The Effectiveness of Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy on Symptoms Severity and Disease Perception among Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Pilot study

Irritable bowel syndrome is a gastrointestinal disorder that is diagnosed from a clinical point of view with symptoms such as changing bowel movements, pain, and feelings of abdominal dilation, and in addition to arbitration therapy, it requires psychological interventions. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of short-term dynamic psychotherapy on the severity of symptoms and the perception of disease among patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

The research design was applied and quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest, and a three-month follow-up with a control group. Participants included 30 patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Tehran in 2020, who were selected via convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to one experimental group and one control group, each consisting of 15 people. Before the intervention, a pretest was held, and then the experimental group received 12 90-minute short-term dynamic psychotherapy, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Then, the posttest was performed, and after three months of posttest, a follow-up was included. Data were collected via the Severity of Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and theShortened Illness Perception Scale. Data were analyzed by SPSS software via univariate analysis of covariance.

In the experimental group, the mean (SD) severity of symptoms decreased from 150.0 (22.3) in the pretest to 124.4 (17.0) in the posttest, and 120.5 (0.2) in the follow-up (P<0.001). Illness perception increased from 40.4 (3.5) in the pretest to 48.4 (3.5) in the posttest, and 48.7 (3.3) in the follow-up (P<0.001).

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy reduced the severity of symptoms and increased disease perception among patients with irritable bowel syndrome.