Exploring the effectiveness of a comprehensive mind-body intervention for medical symptom relief.
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.
Samuelson
Marlene
M
Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Foret
Megan
M
Baim
Margaret
M
Lerner
Jonathan
J
Fricchione
Gregory
G
Benson
Herbert
H
Dusek
Jeffery
J
Yeung
Albert
A
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