title: Exploring the effectiveness of a comprehensive mind-body intervention for medical symptom relief.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to describe possible changes in physical and psychologic symptoms among outpatients completing a 12-week mind-body medical symptom reduction program related to chronic medical conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cornerstone of the program is elicitation of the relaxation response, and the curriculum also incorporates trainings on mind-body interactions, cognitive restructuring, nutrition, and physical activity. The Medical Symptom Checklist (MSCL), Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) and Symptom Checklist-90R (SCL-90-R) were used to assess 331 patients' physical and psychologic symptoms before and after the intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant post-treatment improvements in symptom frequency occurred for 12 individual symptoms on the MSCL, all 6 of the HPLP-II subscales, and 8 of the 9 SCL-90-R subscales from pre- to post-treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results from this uncontrolled study suggest that a comprehensive mind-body intervention program might be useful as a complementary or adjunct therapy for treatment of chronic medical symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samuelson
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foret
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baim
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fricchione
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dusek
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yeung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026441:Mind-Body Therapies; D016896:Treatment Outcome