The Effectiveness of Mindfullness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Pain Intensity of Renal Patients under Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis prolongs the life of patients with chronic renal failure, but hemodialysis complications always cause these patients to suffer. Chronic pain is one of the most common problems for patients undergoing hemodialysis and is a debilitating condition that is associated with some psychological variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on pain severity in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

The present study was a semi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and follow-up with control group. The study population consisted of hemodialysis patients in Zanjan in 1397. 20 patients were selected by purposeful method and were randomly divided into two groups (n = 10). Patients in the experimental group received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in 8 sessions within two months and the control group did not receive any treatment. The 11-point Numbered Rating Scale (NRS-11) was used to measure the research variables. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance using SPSS 24 software.

Results of repeated measure ANOVA showed that after intervention, the severity of pain severity score was significantly decreased compared to the control group (P <0.01) and the stage was not significant in any of the subscales (P <0.01).

In general, the results of the present study showed that Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is considered as an effective therapeutic approach in reducing the severity of pain in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, it is suggested that therapists and specialists use this type of intervention to improve the health of patients.