The Effectiveness of Schema Therapy Intervention on Somatic Symptom Experience, Medication Adherence, and Perceived Stress in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal diseases that affects a significant part of the community. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of schema therapy on the somatic symptom experience, medication adherence, and perceived stress in patients with IBS.

The research method was a quasi-experimental research with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up and a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all patients with IBS who referred to medical centers and neurologists between November and January 2017. The study sample included 30 patients with IBS who were randomly divided into equal schema therapy and control groups. The intervention lasted two months. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Somatic Symptom Experience Questionnaire (BSS-FS), and Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MMAS-8) were used to collect data. In this study, means and standard deviations and analysis of variance with repeated measures were employed for descriptive statistics and the inferential analysis of results, respectively, using SPSS, version 22.

The results showed that schema therapy was effective on somatic symptom experience (P < 0.001), medication adherence (P < 0.001), and perceived stress (P < 0.001) in patients with IBS.

It can be concluded that schema therapy was effective on somatic symptom experience, medication adherence, and perceived stress in patients with IBS; thus, it can be used to reduce psychological problems in patients with IBS.