Comparing the Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation and Phototherapy on the Risk-Taking of Clients of Drug Addiction Clinics

Risk-taking is a behavior that endangers a person’s health and provides the basis for a person to suffer from physical and psychological diseases. Substance dependence disorder includes cognitive, behavioral, and psychological symptoms along with a pattern of repetition and withdrawal tolerance consequences. The aim of the current research was the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation and phototherapy on the risk-taking of people with substance dependence disorder.

The current study is an experiment with a pre-test, post-test, and control group design with a 2-month follow-up level. The statistical population of this research was all the clients of opioid drug abuse treatment clinics of Nikteb, Golrizan, and Hami in Tehran in 2020. In the first level, using the available sampling method, according to α=0.05, the effect size of 85%, and three equal groups, using Gpower software, 63 people were determined. These people were selected among those who had received a score higher than the cut-off line in the risk test and then were replaced by a simple random method in 2 experimental groups (21 people in the cognitive rehabilitation group and 21 people in the phototherapy group) and a control group (21 people). The first experimental group received 12 cognitive rehabilitation sessions and the second experimental group received 12 phototherapy sessions, but the people in the control group did not receive any intervention and remained on the waiting list.

The average age of the cognitive rehabilitation group was 34.19±8.27, the phototherapy group was 32.76±7.68, and the control group was 33.33±7.73. The results of the mixed variance analysis test showed that both interventions in the post-test and follow-up level had a significant effect on reducing risk-taking compared to the control group (p<0.05). In addition, the results of the Bonferroni post hoc test showed that phototherapy was more effective in reducing risk-taking (p<0.05).

Cognitive rehabilitation and phototherapy can be used as treatment methods to reduce the problems caused by the riskiness of clients of drug addiction clinics.