Cognitive Remediation in Diabetics with Combining Mindfulness-based Relaxation and Trans-cranial Electrical Stimulation

The present research aimed to determine the pure and combined effect of both techniques of mindfulness based-relaxation (MBR) and Transcranial Electrical Simulation (tCES) on decreasing prospective and retrospective memory errors and failure of executive functions of patients with type 2 diabetes.

The study is a randomized three-group double-blind clinical trial with repeated measures designs. The sample of the study consisted of 30 patients selected with convenience and purposive sampling method from Diabetes Association of Bonab city, and they were randomly assigned to the three groups of 10 subjects: MBR, CES, MBR+CES groups; and they received interventions related to their group in 10 individual sessions. All patients were assessed by the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS) and Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ), before and after the intervention, and one month after the intervention.

The results of split-plot analysis of variance (SPANOVA) indicated the change of the mean of retrospective and prospective memory over time, and the change of prospective memory over time in different groups. The results of covariance analysis and the post hoc test of Ben Foruni indicated that in the follow-up phase, the prospective memory errors in the MBR+CES group were significantly lower than both the MBR and CES group (P <0.05).

The results of the study provide many theoretical and practical implications for improving the cognitive function of type 2 diabetic patients following MBR and CES therapeutic techniques.