Evaluation of the effect of neurofeedback on quality of life and anxiety in patients with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder with negative effect on many areas of functional activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of neurofeedback on quality of life and anxiety in patients with MS.

This study was quasi-experimental that carried out with pre-test-post-test design with control group. The research population included MS patients referred to specialized clinics that 30 of whom had criteria for entering the research were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The quality of life scale (SF-36) and the anxiety-Spielberger scale were used as research tools. The subjects underwent a one-day trial under neurofeedback intervention in a 15-session period, 40 minutes with the alpha / theta protocol, and the control group did not receive intervention.

The results of covariance analysis showed that neurofeedback exercises were successful in increasing the subscales of quality of life and reducing anxiety (p<0.01), while not having a significant effect on the reduction of the constraints caused by playing role.

Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the neurofeedback exercises used in this study can be used as a complementary and effective treatment to improve the quality of life and reduce the anxiety of MS patients.