Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment-based Therapy on Pain Anxiety and Sleep Quality in Elderly Women with Multiple Sclerosis

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based therapy (ACT) on pain anxiety and sleep quality in elderly women with multiple sclerosis.

This study was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest & follow-up control group design. The statistical population of the study consisted of all elderly women with MS in Tabriz city in 2023. After meeting the criteria for entering and exiting the research, 30 person were selected by the purposeful sampling method and randomly divided into two groups (15 people each). The members of the experimental group received CFT 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 ACT for pain anxiety (76.00±4.22) and for sleep quality (17.67±2.49), and in the control group for pain anxiety (77.73±4.66) and for sleep quality (17.00±1.73) (P>0.05). The results showed that ACT is effective on pain anxiety (70.93±3.95) and sleep quality (14.53±2.38) of elderly women with multiple sclerosis (p<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effect of treatment on the pain anxiety and sleep quality was lasting (p<0.001).

Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that acceptance and commitment-based therapy has reduced pain anxiety and increased sleep quality in elderly women with multiple sclerosis.