Effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy on chronic stress and disease perception in heart patients

Cardiovascular disease is a part of the chronic diseases that cause of the death of many people annually. It is vital to consider different psychological treatments in these patients. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy on chronic stress and disease perception in heart patients.

The current study was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a two-month follow-up and a control group. From among all the heart patients in West Tehran, 40 people were selected by convenience sampling and assigned in two groups (Experimental and Control). In the pre-test, post-test and follow-up stages, the participants completed Wheaton's (1991) Chronic Stress Questionnaires and Brodbent et al.'s (2006) disease Perception Questionnaires. Then the experimental group received mindfulness treatment. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance and repeated measure and with the help of SPSSV19 software.

The results illustrated that there is a significant difference between the groups in the variables of chronic stress (F=5.91) and illness perception (F=10.72) (P<0.05). In the experimental group, after the experimental intervention, a significant decrease in chronic stress and an increase in the illness perception was reported.

According to the results, mindfulness intervention has led to a reduction of chronic stress and an increase in disease perception in heart patients. Therefore, the knowledge of counselors, psychologists, cardiologists and clinical and health professionals about these variables can help in reducing chronic stress and increasing disease perception in heart patients.