The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in the Experience of Pain Intensity and Life Quality of Women with Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Background:The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on experience of pain intensity and life quality in women with fibromyalgia syndrome. Methods: In order to conduct the mentioned research, the city of Isfahan was chosen as a case study. From among the patients with fibromyalgia referring to clinics in Isfahan, 30 people who were willing to participate in the project were purposefully selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to two experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) groups and the Von Korff Chronic Pain Questionnaire (VCPQ) and Life Quality Short Form Survey (SF-36) were administered for pre-test. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions (90 minutes per week) of acceptance-based therapy and one week after the intervention, both experimental and control groups were retested. The research method was quantitative and the questionnaire was used as the measurement tool. Results: Based on the results, a significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in the post-test stage in quality of life scores. There was also a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the post-test stage in pain avoidance scores. Conclusion: The results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can affect the experience of pain intensity and life quality in women with fibromyalgia syndrome.