The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Self-care Education and Stress Reduction Therapy on Pain Management Strategies in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Development of psychological skills can be used to improve physical illnesses. Pain management strategies are one of the most important psychological skills and strategies that can help improve the disease. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of self-care education and mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy on pain management strategies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: The statistical population of the study included patients with RA referred to rheumatology centers in Isfahan, from which 30 people were selected as a sample. In the study, the effect of two interventions of self-care education and mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy on coping strategies was evaluated and compared. Results: The results showed that self-care training could have a significant effect on coping strategies (P=0.001). Mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy also had a significant effect on coping strategies (P=0.005) and comparing the effectiveness of two interventions showed that self-care training was significantly more effective than mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy on coping strategies in patients with RA. Conclusion: Self-care training was more effective than mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy on coping strategies, and in general, both interventions were able to improve coping strategies in patients.