title: Exploring the effectiveness of a modified comprehensive mind-body intervention for medical and psychologic symptom relief.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic illnesses are a major current health concern associated with elevated stress and increased health care costs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to describe the preliminary effectiveness of a modified, multimodal 8 week mind-body intervention on reducing physical and psychological symptoms in patients with chronic physical, mental and comorbid health issues.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and twenty six adults enrolled in a mind-body group program and completed pre and post program assessments (63% completer rate), including the Medical Symptoms Checklist (MSCL), Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II), and Symptom Checklist 90R (SCL-90R).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant improvement was found on 9 of 23 medical symptoms (p < .002), all health promoting lifestyle behaviors (p < .001), and all mental health symptoms (p < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that a multimodal mind-body intervention might be useful as a complementary or adjunct therapy for treatment of chronic medical symptoms. Future research is needed to test the intervention using a randomized controlled trial.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Electronic address: avranceanu@partners.org.
authors.forename: Ana-Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vranceanu
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Halsey
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niles
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fricchione
authors.affiliation: Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baim
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Denninger
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Behavioral Medicine Service, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Elyse R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057189:Checklist; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026441:Mind-Body Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome