Effectiveness of group Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction consultation of severity of physical symptoms in women with irritable bowel syndrome

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders that affect both genders in different ages, but its prevalence is higher in women. Because of perceived stress are very important factors in development of symptoms, the current study aimed to determine the effectiveness of group mindfulness based stress reduction consultation on severity of physical symptoms in women with irritable bowel syndrome.

Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted on 30 women with irritable bowel syndrome referred to one of the educational hospitals in Zahedan in 2015. 30 patients were selected conveniently and then were randomly allocated into two intervention and control groups. The intervention group was received the 8 sessions (each session 90-minutes) educational program. Data were collected through the IBS Symptom Severity Scale before and one week after the intervention. Data analysis was done through using SPSS 20, chi-square, independent T-test, paired T-test and ANCOVA.

Results: The mean of physical symptoms severity before the intervention in intervention and control groups was 309.46 ± 32.19 and 304.01 ± 34.01 respectively that after the intervention were changed to 228.60 ± 13.56 in intervention (p = 0.001) and 299.80 ± 15.72 in control group (p = 0.8) The result of ANCOVA test showed that there was significant differences between the two groups after the intervention (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Group mindfulness based stress reduction method can be used to reduce severity of physical symptoms in women with irritable bowel syndrome. The application of this method in order to improve the symptoms of stress in other diseases is recommended.