Hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome in Saudi Arabian patients.
Al Sughayir MA.
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. fmrahim@ksu.edu.sa
This study investigated whether hypnotherapy provides a significant therapeutic effect in Saudi Arabian patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Patients (n=26) were consecutively recruited at a psychiatry outpatient clinic after diagnosis by a gastroenterologist and a medical evaluation for irritable bowel syndrome.
Each patient had 12 sessions of hypnotherapy over a period of 12 weeks (1 session per week). Patients completed a scale measuring symptom severity before and 3 months after the trial.
Hypnotherapy significantly enhanced a feeling of better quality of life more in male than in female patients, and bowel habit dissatisfaction was reduced more in female than in male patients.
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