Effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy versus Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Clinical Trial

Ulcerative colitis is a gastrointestinal disease with a chronic inflammatory condition. Therefore, psychological therapies to better adapt to this disease are considered vital and cause a significant improvement in psychological and physiological symptoms of patients with ulcerative colitis. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on physiological symptoms, pain perception, and the general health of patients with colitis in three independent groups: (i) ACT, (ii) MBSR, and (iii) the control. The efficacy of ACT and MBSR were also compared immediately after treatment and 2 months later.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 45 patients with colitis after examining the inclusion and exclusion criteria and drops of the subjects. They were equally divided into three groups: ACT, MBSR, and control. They completed the McGill Pain Perception, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the Partial Mayo Scoring Index Assessment. For statistical analysis, SPSS software version 24 with a significance of P<0.05 was used.

The results indicate that both treatments effectively affect physiological symptoms, pain perception, and colitis's general health. In reducing physiological symptoms and pain perception, no significant difference between the two treatments was reported in the post-test. However, ACT was more effective and had a longer-lasting effect on general health.

ACT and MBSR effectively reduce the symptoms of colitis, but ACT is more effective in general health.