Abstract

Background: The experience of cognitive deficit is prevalent in people with Multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the adjuvant metacognitive model of detached mindfulness (MDM) treatment on cognitive function in MS patients.

Methods: in this study, twenty-seven patients with multiple sclerosis were recruited to the mindfulness training group and twenty-six in the common treatment group. In the current study, the intervention was done in MDM group in eight weeks. Standard treatment for all patients consisted Interferon beta (IFNβ). Treatment consists of MDM conducted in weekly group meeting. Patients in the common treatment group received medical treatment and socio-therapeutic intervention. At the baseline and after intervention, patients completed the attention test, Visual-spatial memory test, working memory and anxiety test. Results: Upon study completion scores of working memory, information processing on WAIS-R (Digit span), PASAT 3" and scores of Anxiety Test (AT) significantly increased in the MDM compared with those for the common treatment group (p˂0.05) and There was no significant improvement on visual memory (RCFT) and information processing in sub tests of WAIS-R (Symbol Coding).

Conclusion: This study proves initial evidence that adjuvant detached mindfulness intervention improves cognitive function in the domain of working memory, information processing and attention in PASAT, sub tests of WAIS-R and Anxiety Test (AT) in the MS patients.

Key words: detached mindfulness; cognitive function; multiple sclerosis; randomized controlled study.