The effectiveness of unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment on psychological symptoms in patients with diabetic neuropathy pain

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the unified protocol of transdiagnostic treatment on improving the psychological symptoms of people with chronic pain, including reducing the experienced severity of health anxiety and improving self-compassion.

The research method is quasi-experimental research (pre-test-post-test design with unequal control group). This study is a randomized controlled trial that has an experimental group receiving unified protocol of transdiagnostic treatment and a control group receiving no intervention. The statistical population of this study is all people with neuropathic pain who referred to Mashhad Diabetes Association in 2019. Twenty-four participants were assessed using two self-compassion questionnaires (SCS) and short health anxiety (SHAI).

The results of analysis of covariance showed that there was a significant difference between the groups at the level of 0.001, which means that the unified protocol of transdiagnostic treatment decreased the mean of health anxiety in the post-test phase and increased the mean of self-compassion.

The unified protocol of transdiagnostic treatment is one of the most successful approaches in the field of health anxiety and self-compassion.