Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Health Anxiety and Adherence to Treatment in Patients Undergoing Open-Heart Surgery

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death from non-communicable diseases. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on health anxiety and adherence to treatment in patients who underwent open-heart surgery.

The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population consisted of all patients with heart disease in Tehran in 2019, 45 of whom were divided into experimental and control groups. data were collected using the health anxiety questionnaire and adherence to treatment questionnaire. Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance and SPSS software.

The results showed that acceptance and commitment therapy significantly reduced health anxiety (F=83.60, P<0.0001) and increased adherence to treatment (F=271.32, P<0.0001).

It can be concluded that acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in increasing adherence to treatment and decreasing health anxiety.