The Effectiveness of Spiritual Therapy on Pain Catastrophizing and Self-Control in Patients with Idiopathic Pain

Chronic pain is one of the most common problems that prompt people to seek medical care and is associated with numerous health, economic and social consequences. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of spiritual therapy on pain catastrophizing and self-control in patients with idiopathic pain.

The present study was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group and a six-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the research included all the patients with muscle pain who referred to pain clinics in Tehran in 2022-203, 30 people were selected by the purposeful sampling method and randomly assigned to two equal groups of 15 people. Data collection was done with the PCS by Sullivan et al, and SCQ by Tangney et al. Spiritual therapy was implemented during 8 sessions, two sessions a week and each session lasted for 1 hour for the subjects of the experimental group, but the subjects of the control group did not receive these programs. Data analysis was done with descriptive statistics and variance with repeated measurements using SPSS-26 statistical software.

The average score of pain catastrophizing and its dimensions (mental rumination, magnification, helplessness) in the experimental group significantly improved after the intervention compared to the control group (P<0.05). Spirituality therapy was beneficial on increasing self-control and its dimensions in the subjects of the experimental group, unlike the control group (P<0.05). The effects of this program on dependent variables continued during the six-month follow-up period (P<0.05).

These findings further clarify the role of mental and behavioral structures in chronic pain sufferers and reveal the necessity of using therapeutic approaches derived from spirituality in order to adjust the symptoms of patients with chronic pain.