Effectiveness of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy on Intensity of Pain Experience and Life Satisfaction of Patients with Epilepsy

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance & commitment therapy on intensity of pain experience & life satisfaction of patients with epilepsy.

This study was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest & follow up control group design. The statistical population of the research consisted of all men with epilepsy in Tabriz who were members of the Epilepsy Society of this city in 2022. 30 people were randomly selected into two groups (15 people each) by following the criteria for entering and leaving the research and using the purposeful sampling method. The members of the experimental group received acceptance and commitment-based therapy in 8 sessions of 1.5 hours; but the control group did not receive any treatment. Analysis of findings through repeated measures analysis of variance test.

In the pretest, mean and standard deviation of the acceptance & commitment therapy for intensity of pain experience (76.93±4.49) and for life satisfaction (40.40±3.85), and in the control group for intensity of pain experience ( 78.27±4.14) and for life satisfaction (40.60±3.52) (P>0.05). Acceptance & commitment therapy, compared to the control group, the intensity of pain experience (78.27±4.14) and life satisfaction (78.27±4.14) of patients with epilepsy decreased and increased respectively in the post-test (p<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effect of treatment on the intensity of pain experience and life satisfaction was lasting (p<0.001).

Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that acceptance and commitment therapy has reduced the intensity of pain experience and increased life satisfaction of patients with epilepsy.