The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Based on Pain Intensity Perception among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Isfahan

Aim and Acceptance and commitment therapy can decrease psychological problems of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the pain intensity perception in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Isfahan, Iran.
Methods and Materials: This semi-experimental study was conducted using pretest-posttest and control group, with follow-up of the patients. Therefore, 30 women were randomly selected from those who referred to rheumatology centers in Isfahan and were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis by a rheumatologist and met other inclusion criteria. They were randomly assigned into experimental group and control group (15 individuals in each group) and followed up for two months. The data was collected using Mc Gill’s pain intensity perception questionnaire which was completed by the participants. Then the experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of acceptance commitment therapy intervention. The data was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA.
Findings: Acceptance and commitment therapy had significant effect on the pain intensity perception in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in experimental group (P It can be concluded that acceptance and commitment therapy can be used as an intervention to decrease pain intensity perception in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.