Ebell, H. (2008). The therapist as a travelling companion to the chronically ill: Hypnosis and cancer related symptoms. Contemporary Hypnosis, 25, 46–56.
DOI Link
Study Purpose
To examine the effects of the combination of self-hypnosis and pharmacologic pain management
Intervention Characteristics/Basic Study Process
Patients with cancer-related pain were randomly assigned to the order in which they received two different approaches—self-hypnosis with pain medications and pain medications alone. Patients used a daily log to record pain levels and the use of analgesics.
Sample Characteristics
-
N = 39
-
AGE: No information reported
-
MALES, FEMALES: No information reported
-
KEY DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Not provided
Setting
-
SITE: Single site
-
SETTING TYPE: Outpatient setting
-
LOCATION: United Kingdom
Phase of Care and Clinical Applications
-
PHASE OF CARE: Long-term follow-up, end-of-life and palliative care
Study Design
-
Single group crossover design
Measurement Instruments/Methods
-
Visual analog scale
-
Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale for Adults (for response or non-response to self-hypnosis)
Results
Eleven patients reported achieving pain control; 12 reported benefits in relaxation, rest, and sleep; and 9 reported no impact.
Conclusions
The study report lacks full quantitative findings and, thus, very limited information about the efficacy of hypnosis.
Limitations
-
Small sample of less than 100
-
No analysis of the differences between hypnosis and \"control” condition
-
Those who added self-hypnosis first in the crossover sequence were likely to have contaminated results that occurred later in the control condition.
-
No disease-related or other demographic information about the sample is provided.
-
Very limited reporting of results and analysis of findings
Nursing Implications
This study provides little information and no clear support for the efficacy of hypnosis for chronic cancer-related pain.