azadeh amiri moghadam shirvan

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of compassion-focused therapy on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients’ treatment adherence and perceived stress. It was a quasi-experimental study consisting of a pre-test, a post-test, a control group, and a two-month follow-up period. In 2019, the statistical population of the present study included IBS patients referred to Bandarabbas therapy centers and gastroenterologists. Using the available sampling technique, 32 IBS patients were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. During two and a half months, the experimental group received ten 75-minute sessions of compassion-focused therapy. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Adherence to Treatment Questionnaire (ATQ) were among the questionnaires utilized. The data were analyzed using statistical software version 23 and repeated-measurement ANOVA and Bonferroni follow-up tests. The results showed that compassion-focused therapy has a significant effect on IBS patients’ treatment adherence and perceived stress (P<0.001). According to the findings of the present study, compassion-focused therapy can be used as an efficient therapy to increase treatment adherence and decrease perceived stress in IBS patients by employing techniques such as increasing positive experiences, training compassion expression, and identifying incorrect evaluations.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal diseases that affects a significant part of the community. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of schema therapy on the somatic symptom experience, medication adherence, and perceived stress in patients with IBS.

The research method was a quasi-experimental research with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up and a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all patients with IBS who referred to medical centers and neurologists between November and January 2017. The study sample included 30 patients with IBS who were randomly divided into equal schema therapy and control groups. The intervention lasted two months. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Somatic Symptom Experience Questionnaire (BSS-FS), and Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MMAS-8) were used to collect data. In this study, means and standard deviations and analysis of variance with repeated measures were employed for descriptive statistics and the inferential analysis of results, respectively, using SPSS, version 22.

The results showed that schema therapy was effective on somatic symptom experience (P < 0.001), medication adherence (P < 0.001), and perceived stress (P < 0.001) in patients with IBS.

It can be concluded that schema therapy was effective on somatic symptom experience, medication adherence, and perceived stress in patients with IBS; thus, it can be used to reduce psychological problems in patients with IBS.