Effectiveness of Spiritual-based Stress Management Training on Severity of Pain in Women with Fibromyalgia

Background and In recent years, it has been shown that therapies and interventions that use spiritual techniques play an important role in the mental relaxation of patients with chronic illnesses. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of stress management training with Iranian-Islamic spiritual therapy on the severity of pain in women with Fibromyalgia. This study was carried out in a quasi-experimental design, which involved the analysis of the experimental and control groups in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The population of the study consisted of 30 women with fibromyalgia, who were randomly assigned into the experimental group (n=15) and control group (n=15). The experimental group took part in a 12-session educational program related to stress management with Iranian-Islamic spiritual therapy once a week. However, control group received no intervention. All participants completed the Brief Pain Inventory in three stages of the baseline, after implementation of Iranian-Islamic spiritual therapy, and the follow-up stages. The results of repeated measures ANOVA showed that stress-management program with Iranian-Islamic spiritual therapy after intervention and follow-up stages (45 days after baseline measurement) had a significant effect on the reduction of the pain intensity, as well as the sensory and reactive dimensions of pain (P<0.01). The obtained results of the study revealed that stress management training with Iranian-Islamic spiritual therapy can be an effective method for decreasing the severity of pain in women with fibromyalgia.