Effectiveness of Logotherapy on Bodily and Psychological Variables: Mental Pain, Adherence to Treatment, and Abdominal Pain in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Background:

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of logotherapy on mental pain, adherence to treatment, and abdominal pain in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Materials and Methods:

The design of the current study was quasi-experimental, which included three stages of evaluation. In the first stage, the research questionnaires were completed by patients of both groups (pre-test). In the second stage, logotherapy was performed for eight sessions of 90 minutes with an interval of once a week on the experimental group by a psychotherapist (Ph.D in psychology and trained in therapy), and then the questionnaires were completed by the patients in both groups (post-test). In the third stage, 2 months after the end of the treatment sessions, the questionnaires were finally completed by the patients of both groups (follow-up).

Results:

There was a significant difference in reducing abdominal pain and increasing treatment adherence between the experimental and control groups in the post-test phase. These results were also stable in the follow-up phase (P<0.05).

Conclusion:

Logotherapy reduced the mean of mental pain and abdominal pain and increased the mean of adherence to treatment in the post-test stage. The effectiveness of treatment in the follow-up stage has also been stable. According to the results of the study, logotherapy is effective on the variables of mental pain, adherence to treatment, and abdominal pain in patients with the constipation-dominant type of irritable bowel syndrome. This type of psychotherapy can be used to examine other variables in such patients or in patients with other symptoms (diarrhea and mixed).