The effectiveness of cognitive behavior stress management on functional dyspepsia symptoms

Abstract

Introduction: Functional dyspepsia and digestive disorders arecommon, debilitating and costly. Little information is availableabout the role of stress management in terms of cognitivebehavioraltreatment of dyspepsia. The purpose of this studywas to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stressmanagement on functional dyspepsia symptoms in patients whoreferred to digestion clinics in Ahvaz.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study, using pretest,post-test and follow-up with control group. The samplesize was decided according to availability. For this purpose, 30patients were selected using Rome-III diagnostic criteria withdiagnosis of functional dyspepsia. They were divided with blockrandomization into two experimental and control groups (Eachwith 15 subjects). The experimental group received 10 sessions ofcognitive behavioral stress management. But, the control groupdid not receive any intervention. Two groups were assessed atpost-test and follow-up after the intervention. Data collection inthis study was based on the NDI index. All subjects completedthe NDI index for evaluating dyspeptic symptoms in the pre-testphase. At the end of interventions and post-test phase, both groupscompleted the NDI index. Also, all subjects completed a monthafter the end of the the NDI index in order to follow the effects oftreatment. After the follow-up, the data were analyzed using theSPSS 14 and univariate analysis of variance. The significance levelwas considered p<0.05.Results: The result of this study showed that there were significantdifferences between the experimental and control groups in termsof functional dyspepsia in the post-test (p=0.000). Also, therewere significant differences between the experimental and controlgroups in terms of functional dyspepsia in the follow-up (p=0.000).Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest thatcognitive-behavioral stress management strategies are effectivein reducing symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia.So, cooperation among gastroenterologists, psychologists andpsychiatrists can have positive effects on these patients.Keywords: Cognitive behavior, Dyspepsia, Stress