メディエイゴ

Children with functional abdominal pain(1) who used audio recordings(2) of guided imagery(3) at home in addition to(4) standard medical treatment were almost three times as likely to(5) improve their pain problem, compared to children who received standard treatment alone.

And those benefits were maintained six months after treatment ended, a new study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Medical Center researchers(6) has found.

The study is published in the November 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics(7). The lead author(8) is Miranda van Tilburg, Ph.D.(9), assistant professor(10) in the Division of Gastroenterology(11) and Hepatology(12) in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Center for Functional GI(13) & Motility(14) Disorders(15).

“What is especially exciting about our study is that children can clearly reduce their abdominal pain a lot on their own(16) with guidance from(17) audio recordings, and they get much better results that way than from medical care alone,” said van Tilburg. “Such self-administered(18) treatment is, of course, very inexpensive(19) and can be used in addition to other treatments, which potentially(20) opens the door for(21) easily enhancing(22) treatment outcomes for a lot of children suffering from(23) frequent stomach aches.”

The study focused on(24) functional abdominal pain, defined as(25) persistent(26) pain with no identifiable(27) underlying disease(28) that interferes with(29) activities(30). It is very common, affecting up to 20 percent of children. Prior(31) studies have found that behavioral therapy(32) and guided imagery (a treatment method similar to self-hypnosis(33)) are effective, when combined with(34) regular medical care, to reduce pain and improve quality of life(35).