The effectiveness of extradiagnostic group therapy on the severity of symptoms and disease perception of people with irritable bowel syndrome

The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of group therapy on the severity of symptoms and perception of the disease in people with irritable bowel syndrome. The research was a semi-experimental type with a one-month follow-up phase. The population consisted of all female patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. The statistical sample included 30 people who were selected purposefully. Then, 15 people were randomly replaced in the control group and 15 people in the experimental group. The intervention group received meta-diagnostic treatment during 8 sessions of 60 minutes once a week. Data were collected by using Brad Bennett et al.'s (2006) brief IPQ and the severity of symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-SSS) by Lechner et al. (2013) (IBS-SSS) was repeatedly analyzed. The symptom severity scores of women with irritable bowel syndrome decreased from pre-test to post-test and follow-up, which indicates the effect of extra diagnostic treatment in reducing the severity of symptoms and perception of the disease in these women (p<0.05). with the persistence of the effect in the follow-up phase in reducing the severity of symptoms and perception of the disease; The stability of the effect of extra diagnostic group therapy on reducing the severity of symptoms and disease perception of women suffering from irritable bowel syndrome was confirmed (p<0.05). It can be concluded that this intervention was able to reduce the severity of symptoms and perception of the disease to a great extent.