Effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on depressive symptoms, anxiety, pain intensity, quality of life, acceptance, and functional impairment in individuals with neurological disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effects of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on depressive symptoms, anxiety, pain intensity, quality of life, acceptance, and functional impairment in individuals with neurological disorders.MethodA comprehensive search was conducted within four databases to identify relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The quality of the included RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. Either a random effects model or fixed effects model was used. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to the types of control groups.ResultsTwenty-four RCTs met the eligibility criteria. This meta-analysis found that ACT had medium-to-large effects in the immediate post-test and follow-up on reducing depressive symptoms, anxiety, pain intensity, and perceived functional impairment and improving quality of life and acceptance in individuals with neurological disorders. The overall risk of bias was unclear.ConclusionsRelatively fewer studies were conducted to compare the effects of ACT to active control groups compared to studies involving passive control conditions. Future high-quality studies that compare ACT to active control conditions in individuals with neurological disorders are needed to determine whether practitioners should be routinely providing ACT for this population instead of other evidence-based treatments.