Comparison of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Compassion-Focused Treatment on the Severity of Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background: The aim of this research was to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction and compassion-focused on the severity of digestive symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Methods: The research method was of semi-experimental type with pre-test, post-test, follow-up, and experimental and control groups. The population included patients with IBS in Isfahan city, 45 of them were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to three groups (15 in each group). Then, the patients of one experimental group received eight sessions of 90 minutes of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program, while the other experimental group received eight sessions of 90 minutes of compassion-focused therapy. The measurement tools included the severity of IBS scale and a short clinical interview. Research data were analyzed using variance analysis with repeated measures on one factor (mixed design).

Results: The results showed that both methods of intervention had been equally effective on the severity of disease symptoms (<0.01).

Conclusion: Both intervention methods can be used as a complementary treatment for patients with IBS.