Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Therapy on somatic symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

This research was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Group Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Therapy on somatic symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The present research was a semi-experimental and pre-test post-test design with follow-up period. The Statistical population of the study included all female patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders in Rasht city who referred to treatment clinics. For this study sample, 32 patients with irritable bowel syndrome were selected based on the Rome-II diagnostic criteria, by convenience sampling by gastroenterologists, assigned to mindfulness (16 patients) and control (16 patients) groups. Participants in the two groups were tested before the intervention, at the end of the intervention (two months after training) and two months later in the follow-up phase. The experimental group received 8 mindfulness sessions. The Rome-II diagnostic criterion was used to diagnose and evaluate the physical symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome disorder and used to a short form of psychological symptoms questionnaire to evaluate psychological symptoms. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results showed that the average scores of physical symptoms in the experimental group were significantly lower than the control group in the post-test and follow-up stages. According to results, training of Group Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Therapy helps to improve the level and severity of symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.