The efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction program on disease perception in thalassemia patients

Disease perception is an organized cognitive representation that thalassemia patients have of their illness and its effects. Research has shown that mindfulness-based stress reduction programs are effective on self-management and reducing patient anxiety, but the application of this treatment on disease perception in the target population is a research gap.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) on disease perception in thalassemia patients.

The research method is quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all patients with thalassemia in Behshahr who were members of the Thalassemia Association in 1400 (approximately 90 people). Fourty thalassemia patients selected by purposive sampling as a research sample and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (20 patients in each group). First, both groups answered the Bradbent et al.'s (2006) Perception of Disease Questionnaire (pre-test). The experimental group then underwent mindfulness-based stress reduction program of Kabat Zinn (2009) for 8 sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. Data analysis was performed using multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that in the post-test stage, the score of disease perception components in the outcomes, duration, nature, concern, emotional responses and cause of the disease, the subjects in the experimental group compared to the control group decreased significantly (P<0.05). In the components Personal control, treatment control and disease cognition increased according to the mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) (P<0.05).

Mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) for thalassemia patients reduces their anxiety, and leads to their greater efforts to control their disease status.