Original articlesA pilot study of the effectiveness of guided imagery with progressive muscle relaxation to reduce chronic pain and mobility difficulties of osteoarthritis
Section snippets
Chronic pain and decreased mobility in OA
Chronic pain and decreased mobility are cardinal symptoms of OA. As the disease progresses, the intensity and the severity of the pain increase. Among patients with OA, chronic pain is considered the primary cause of sedentary lifestyles (O’Reilly & Doherty, 1998), difficulties with activity (Yelin, 1998), and decreased quality of life (Affleck et al., 1999). Mobility difficulties, the other prime feature of OA, are associated with decreased physical activity (Felson, 2001) and an increased
Design
A 12-week longitudinal, randomized clinical trial pilot study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of GI with PMR to reduce pain and mobility difficulties in older women with OA.
Sample
Twenty-eight women over 65 years of age with a diagnosis of OA and joint pain participated in the study. Individuals with a history of dementia or cognitive impairment or who were unable to understand the study procedures and the consent form were excluded. Eighteen women were randomly assigned to the intervention
Demographics
The participants were 65 years to 93 years old. On the whole, they were highly educated (M ≥14 years of schooling), 53% were married; and 42% were widowed, divorced, or single. The participants in the experimental and the control groups were not significantly different in their age, years of schooling, marital status, presence of other rheumatologic conditions, or presence of other medical diseases (Table 1). In addition, no significant differences were found between the two groups in the
Discussion
Results from this pilot study, indicating that GI with PMR reduced pain in women with OA, support previous conclusions in other patient populations Arathuzik 1994, Creamer et al 2000, Graffam and Johnson 1987, Mannix et al 1999, Sloman 1995, Tusek et al 1997. In combination, these findings provide evidence that GI with PMR may be an effective self-management technique for coping with daily pain associated with OA.
These results also support conclusions from prior studies that GI with PMR
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