Gonsalkorale W M, Miller V, Afzal A, Whorwell P J
Department of Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Gut. 2003 Nov;52(11):1623-9. doi: 10.1136/gut.52.11.1623.
There is now good evidence from several sources that hypnotherapy can relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome in the short term. However, there is no long term data on its benefits and this information is essential before the technique can be widely recommended. This study aimed to answer this question.
204 patients prospectively completed questionnaires scoring symptoms, quality of life, anxiety, and depression before, immediately after, and up to six years following hypnotherapy. All subjects also subjectively assessed the effects of hypnotherapy retrospectively in order to define their "responder status".
71% of patients initially responded to therapy. Of these, 81% maintained their improvement over time while the majority of the remaining 19% claimed that deterioration of symptoms had only been slight. With respect to symptom scores, all items at follow up were significantly improved on pre-hypnotherapy levels (p<0.001) and showed little change from post-hypnotherapy values. There were no significant differences in the symptom scores between patients assessed at 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5+ years following treatment. Quality of life and anxiety or depression scores were similarly still significantly improved at follow up (p<0.001) but did show some deterioration. Patients also reported a reduction in consultation rates and medication use following the completion of hypnotherapy.
This study demonstrates that the beneficial effects of hypnotherapy appear to last at least five years. Thus it is a viable therapeutic option for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.
目前有多个来源的充分证据表明，催眠疗法可在短期内缓解肠易激综合征的症状。然而，关于其长期益处尚无数据，而在该技术能够被广泛推荐之前，这些信息至关重要。本研究旨在回答这一问题。
204例患者前瞻性地完成了关于症状、生活质量、焦虑和抑郁的问卷调查，调查时间点为催眠治疗前、治疗后即刻以及治疗后长达六年。所有受试者还回顾性地主观评估了催眠治疗的效果，以确定其“反应者状态”。
71%的患者最初对治疗有反应。其中，81%的患者随着时间推移维持了改善状态，而其余19%的大多数患者称症状仅有轻微恶化。关于症状评分，随访时所有项目与催眠治疗前水平相比均有显著改善（p<0.001），且与催眠治疗后的值相比变化不大。治疗后1年、2年、3年、4年或5年以上评估的患者之间，症状评分无显著差异。生活质量以及焦虑或抑郁评分在随访时同样仍有显著改善（p<0.001），但确实出现了一些恶化。患者还报告称，完成催眠治疗后就诊率和药物使用有所减少。
本研究表明，催眠疗法的有益效果似乎至少可持续五年。因此，它是治疗肠易激综合征的一种可行的治疗选择。
