Introduction: Non-adherence to treatment regimen is a health problem with wide consequences, but it has not been considered in the clinical environment and has been investigated less. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy and paradoxical therapy on adherence to treatment regimen in coronary artery disease patients.
Material and Methods: This was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test and control group design with a 2-month follow-up. All patients with coronary disease who were referred to Shahid Noorani Hospital in Talesh city in 2023, numbering 174 people, constituted the statistical population of the study, which was selected by purposive sampling of 60 people and randomly assigned to three equal groups of 20 people. Data collection was done with demographic information checklist and Seyed-Fatemi adherence questionnaire. Mindfulness therapy during 8 sessions and, paradox therapy during 6 sessions were applied to the experimental groups. The control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed by two-way repeated measures ANOVA.
Results: Mindfulness therapy and paradox therapy compared to the control group improved the intention to take the treatment, adaptability, integrating illness into life, stiking to the treatment, commitment to treatment and indecisiveness for applying treatment and, the total score of adherence to treatment (F=149.475 & η=0.84) in patients with coronary artery diseease(P<0.05). Also, Benferroni's post-hoc test showed that mindfulness therapy was more effective than paradox therapy on treatment adherence in different stages of measurement (post-test-follow-up) (P<0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results, active therapists in the field of improving the health of heart patients can use the above-mentioned treatments to increase compliance with the treatment orders of these patients.