Effect of a bioenergy economy program on the severity of symptoms and quality of life of patients with myofascial pain syndrome

To determine the effects of a bioenergy economy program on the severity of symptoms and quality of life of patients with myofascial pain syndrome

In this randomized clinical-trial, 30 patients with myofascial pain syndrome were assigned to two groups. Patients in the case group participated in a bioenergy economy program for 6 sessions. The data collection tools were the McGill Pain Questionnaire and the WHO Quality of Life -BREF Questionnaire. In addition, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were also applied to patients in both groups. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analysis of the changes between the two groups.

According to the analysis, the test of between-subject effect was not significant for pain, QOL, anxiety, and depression (p-value>0.05 for all variables) while the results of the test of within-subject effect were significant (p-value<0.05 for all variables). The effect of the time-group interaction was not significant for pain (P=0.139) and QOL (P=0.169) while it was significant for anxiety (P<0.001) and depression (P=0.026). The mean scores of anxiety and depression decreased during the measurement times in both groups although the decrease was more prominent in the intervention group.

The bioenergy economy program can effectively decrease the pain intensity, depression, and anxiety and improve the quality of life of patients with myofascial pain syndrome. This program can reduce the patients’ distress through modifying attention bias and improving the self-efficacy and acceptance in these patients.