The Effect of Spiritual Counseling on Hope in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND: Spiritual practices have recently emerged as beneficial to both mental and physical health. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of spiritual counseling on hope among patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). METHODS: This single blind randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on the patients with MS in April-June 2020, Kashan, Iran. 50 patients were randomly assigned to two 25-member groups. The patients in the intervention group participated in eight 60-minute spiritual counseling program. They were asked to fill out the demographic information questionnaire before the intervention and Herth Hope Index (HHI) before, immediately (in the 4th week of the study) and a month after the intervention (in the 8th week of the study). Data were analyzed using Chi-square, independent samples t-test and repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS version 16. The significance level was considered P<0.05. RESULTS: The results showed that the differences between the two groups before the intervention were not statistically significant in terms of demographic variables (P>0.05) and the mean score of hope (P=0.61). However, the total mean score of HHI in the intervention group was significantly different from the control group immediately and a month after the intervention (44.95±1.42 VS. 31.66±2.45 and 43.25±1.84 VS. 30.58±2.24), respectively (P<0.001). According to the results of the repeated measures ANOVA, the level of hope and its dimensions significantly changed in the intervention group over time (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study showed that spiritual counseling promoted the hope score in patients with MS. It is recommended that spiritual counseling should be use as a complementary therapy along with other counseling treatments to increase hope in patients with MS. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: IRCT20190819044567N