Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Pain and Depression in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

The frequency and impact of pain and depression have been long underestimated in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. Therefore, systematic screening and management of pain and depression are recommended for these patients. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Therapy (MBT) in reducing pain and depression in patients with MS. 

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test and a control group design. We conducted a randomized trial on 24 MS patients with primary pain and depression. Moreover, they were members of the MS Society at Shahid Sadooghi Hospital in Yazd City, Iran, in 2017. The study participants were randomly divided into the test (n=12) and control (n=12) groups. The study participants were evaluated at 3-time points (baseline, end of the treatment, follow-up) using the McGill Pain Questionnaire and Depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as outcome measures.

The repeated measures Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) results revealed that MBT significantly reduced pain and depression in MS patients compared to the controls (P<0. 05). The effect of outcome measures was maintained at 2-months follow-up (P<0.05). The effect size on pain and depression were 0.41 and 0.43, respectively.

MBT has been effective on pain and depression reduction among MS patients.