Comparison of the effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on fatigue and quality of life in men with heart failure: A semi-experimental study

This study was conducted to compare the effect of “mindfulness-based cognitive therapy” and “acceptance and commitment therapy” on fatigue and quality of life in men with heart failure.

Fatigue, as one of the important symptoms and complications of heart failure, affects the quality of life of the patients, their self-care and daily task performance. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy may have an effect on these problems.    

This research was semi-experimental with a pre-test post-test design and control group within a three-month follow-up period. Forty five men with heart failure were purposefully selected and randomly allocated to two experimental groups and one control group (15 people in each group). Data were collected in three stages using the Iowa Fatigue Scale, and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Data analysis was done in SPSS-25 software with mixed analysis of variance test.

After intervention and in follow-up stages, both mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy were effective on fatigue and quality of life in men with heart failure. The follow-up test showed a greater effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on quality of life and no statistically significant difference was found between the experimental groups in terms of effect on fatigue.

Both interventions, especially acceptance and commitment therapy, can be used as effective interventions on fatigue and quality of life along with medical treatments for men with heart failure in medical centers.