The efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on disease perception, self-care behaviors and treatment adherence in female patients with breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common disease and the second cause of death in women, which has many physical and psychological complications, and anxiety is one of them. Today, with the advancement of psychology, there are various ways to reduce stress and anxiety, especially for diseases such as cancer. Among these methods is treatment based on acceptance and commitment.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on disease perception, self-care behaviors and treatment adherence in female patients with breast cancer.

The current research design is a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test type with a control group and follow-up. The statistical population of the research includes all female patients with breast cancer aged 25 to 45 who were referred to the oncology department of Imam Hossein Hospital in the second half of 2018, 40 of whom were selected through purposive sampling along with screening and based on Cohen's table, using The effect size and power of the test was selected as sample people, these people were replaced in two experimental and control groups using a random method. The experimental group underwent Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In order to collect research data, a long-form disease perception questionnaire, a Madanlo treatment adherence questionnaire, and a self-care ability questionnaire were used.

The results of analysis of variance with repeated measurements showed that acceptance and commitment-based treatment (ACT) was effective on the perception, adherence to treatment, and self-care ability of female breast cancer patients, and this effect was stable in the follow-up phase.

According to the findings of this research, it can be said that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as an effective intervention can be effective on the perception, adherence to treatment, and self-care ability of female patients with breast cancer. Therefore, the use of psychological services in parallel with the process of treating people with breast cancer is necessary for faster treatment.