Comparison of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Neurofeedback on Quality of Life of Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders and is usually associated with abdominal pain. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness and neurofeedback on quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

The present study was a pretest-posttest control group design with a two-month follow-up. The study population included all women with irritable bowel syndrome referred to gastroenterology centers and clinics of Qazvin city in 2019. Patients were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two experimental and one control groups (n=45). The experimental groups underwent Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Neurofeedback (NFB). The Rome-III diagnostic criteria form and the WHOQOLBREF were administered. Data were analyzed using repeated measure analysis of variance.

There was significant difference between NFB and control group for total quality of life and all its components. The mean between-group difference (MD) of total quality of life score in NFB compared to control group was 21.2±2.58 in post-test and 15.4±2.35 in follow-up (P<0.05). MBCT group was significantly different with the control group in component of general health both in post-test (MD= 0.93±0.53) and follow-up (MD=0.73±0.53), (P<0.05).

NFB therapy considerably improved the quality of life of patients with IBS that was remained after two months of follow-up, while MBCT was only effective on improvement of general health in comparison with the control group.