The effect and comparison of mindfulness-based stress reduction training and the combination of mindfulness-based stress reduction and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) on the stress intensity of migraine sufferers

Migraine headaches, as the third most common disease in the world and the sixth cause of disability, affect an average of 10% of the world's population. Due to the neurological nature of this disease, many cognitive functions of the patient, such as memory, attention, decision making, etc., are affected and impaired. Also, this chronic disease periodically and debilitatingly affects the quality of life, relationships and productivity of patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect and compare mindfulness-based stress reduction training and the combination of mindfulness-based stress reduction training and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) to the stress intensity of migraine sufferers.

The present study is applied research in terms of purpose, and is a complete experiment in terms of data collection with pre-test, post-test and follow-up design and control group. The statistical population of this study was all migraine patients aged 30 to 45 years who referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in 2009. Finally, 49 were divided into three groups. The first group received mindfulness-based stress reduction training, the second group received a combination of mindfulness-based stress reduction methods with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS), and the third group, the control group, as a comparison group, received unstructured training programs such as time management and review of their daily and weekly tasks. The research instrument was the Harry Stress Intensity Questionnaire (2000) and repeated measure analysis.

The findings showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction training method and a combination of mindfulness-based stress reduction and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) reduced stress, compared to the control group reduced stress.  The combination of mindfulness-based stress reduction and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) was more effective in reducing stress than just the mindfulness-based stress reduction training method.