Investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on stress and life expectancy in infertile women undergoing acupuncture treatment

Determining the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on stress and life expectancy in infertile women undergoing acupuncture treatment.

A randomized, double-blind, experimental and control clinical trial was conducted on 60 infertile women undergoing acupuncture treatment.

This research is conducted in the acupuncture clinic of Dr. Abbas Ansari in Tehran. Infertile women are enrolled in the study under acupuncture treatment. Considering that the women do not know about the group allocation, therefore, a blind strain study is performed. Then we will place them in two groups of 30 people randomly.

Entry criteria: infertile women aged between 20 and 40 years, diagnosed with infertility by a specialist doctor, receiving acupuncture treatment for infertility, ability and willingness to participate in a treatment intervention program, not having severe mental disorders. Exclusion criteria: presence of severe physical problems, use of psychotropic or antidepressant drugs, pregnancy or planning to become pregnant during the study period, and unwillingness to continue acupuncture treatment during the study period.

The experimental group consists of infertile women undergoing acupuncture treatment who participate in the MBCT intervention program. The intervention consists of 8 90-minute group therapy sessions. Sessions are designed based on MBCT techniques, which include mindfulness exercises, meditation, and training to pay attention to current experiences. The control group receives no specific intervention and only uses standard acupuncture care. This group serves as a comparison group to evaluate the effects of MBCT intervention and its combination with relaxation exercises.

Stress and life expectancy in infertile women under acupuncture treatment.

In this research, randomization method is used to assign infertile women to intervention and control groups. First, each participant receives a unique ID. These IDs are randomly written on cards and the cards are thrown into a large container. Then, the cards are shuffled and taken out in turn. Each ID is randomly assigned to different groups. To determine the intervention and control groups, the set of cards is divided into two groups and each group is randomly assigned to one of the groups. This process ensures that the allocation of participants to groups is done without prejudice and randomly, which reduces the possibility of bias in the research results.

In this research, blinding is done in one way. In this way, the participants do not know the type of intervention they are receiving. For this purpose, all participants attend therapy sessions that are identical in appearance and physical environment. Therapists, aware of the type of intervention (MBCT or acupuncture alone), consistently administered the same modality for all groups, and there were no apparent differences between sessions for participants. In order to maintain blinding, information about the exact type of intervention is not provided to the participants. They are only informed that they are participating in a study to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Any additional explanation about the details of the treatments will not be given to the participants until the end of the study in order to reduce bias effects. This method helps to evaluate the obtained results without bias and more accurately.

Since the research plan is related to a thesis, only the study protocol, clinical study report, and study results will be published. The participant data file contains information about the participants, and due to the preservation of individuals' privacy it cannot be published.

The stages of the clinical study, such as the number of participants, the criteria for entering and exiting the research project, the sampling method, the treatment protocol, and the results of the study will be described in the thesis and article.

Data can be made available 6 months after results are published.

In research, access to data and documents is limited in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the participants. People who are allowed to access data and documents are: principal researchers and research collaborators, ethical supervisors and ethics review committees, colleagues and specialized consultants, researchers in scientific and academic centers and legal supervisors (if the research requires approval or supervision legal, legal observers may have access to data and documents). To access data and documents, all these people must respect the principles of confidentiality and privacy of the participants and only have access to the data they need to perform their duties.

Using data to analyze and review research results and answer research questions, writing scientific articles, reports and presentations in conferences and authoritative publications, improving research methods and processes in future research, supporting decisions at the policy level and implementing operational plans. Using data as educational resources to educate students and researchers while maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of research participants' information.

If you need the data, write to arezounoori66@gmail.com.

After receiving the request and reviewing it by the main researcher, the data will be sent to the requester within a week, along with an undertaking that the data will not be published without the name of the main researcher and that the privacy and confidentiality of the research participants will be preserved.