Randomized double-blind pilot study on psychological effects of a treatment with 'instrumental biocommunication'.
OBJECTIVE
Computerized systems using instrumental biocommunication for treatment claim beneficial health effects. We set out a pilot study to test whether individuals treated with a program called QUANTEC report improvements in well-being, health, and fulfillment of prerecorded wishes.


METHODS
34 volunteers from the University Hospital Freiburg participated in the study. Before treatment, baseline measures were taken (self-report on wishes, well-being, and health). Participants were then randomly and blindly allocated to two groups. In the first treatment phase of 3 months duration, only half of the participants were treated (group 1). Upon the end of the first treatment phase, post-treatment measures were taken. Participants were then unblinded as to group allocation and group 2 was treated. Finally, the second post-treatment measures were taken.


RESULTS
Data exploration revealed that individuals' need for health improvement and blinding may be important psychological prerequisites for a treatment with instrumental biocommunication to be beneficial.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatments with QUANTEC may be accompanied by beneficial health effects. The latter do not necessarily bear on postulated causative mechanisms of treatments with instrumental biocommunication but might instead be purely psychological in nature. However, there are a number of limitations as to the quality and quantity of such effects which calls for further investigation.
Schneider
Rainer
R
Institute for Environmental Medicine and Hospital Epidemiology and Samueli Institute Europe, University Hospital Freiburg, Germany. rainer. schneider@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Walach
Harald
H
D000328:Adult; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D003142:Communication; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012984:Software; D016896:Treatment Outcome