The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy on Improving the Quality of Life in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background and Aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease and its psychological symptoms and effects, including reduced quality of life, have a huge impact on various aspects of the patients’ life. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapyin improving the quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis. Materials and Methods: In a quasi-experimental study with pre-test-posttest design and a control group, 36 patients with multiple sclerosis thatreferred to theM.S Clinic in Ghaem Hospital and MS society of Khorasan Razavi in Mashhad were selected using a convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned intotreatment and control groups. The treatment group received the seven, 2 hours’ sessions of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). Data was collected at pre-test and post-test with theMultiple Sclerosis Quality of Life 54 Tool(MSQOL-54). The analysis of covariance was usedfor analyzing the data with SPSS-21. Results: The findings showed that SFBT has a significant impact on the quality of life(F=11.92, P 0.002) and its components (F=31, P 0.001)in patients with multiple sclerosis. Conclusion : The SFBT is an effective therapeutic approach to improve the quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis. In fact, solution-focused therapy improves quality of life indicators in MS as a concise and evidence-based intervention. Although these results are promising, they require further and more comprehensive study of the effectiveness of such interventions in neuropsychological disorders.