Alternative therapies in health and medicine
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Altern Ther Health Med · Jul 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA pilot study of mind-body changes in adults with asthma who practice mental imagery.
Despite the growing number of studies of imagery and the use of complementary and alternative modalities as treatments for asthma, research on mental imagery in adults with asthma is practically, nonexistent. The purpose of this feasibility study was to lay groundwork for a larger follow-up clinical trial. ⋯ Findings related to major outcome measures must be viewed with caution due to the small sample size resulting from attrition related to labor intensiveness and, therefore, low statistical power. However, the study did provide significant data to plan a larger scale study of the use of mental imagery with adult asthmatics. The study also demonstrated that imagery is inexpensive, safe and, with training, can be used as an adjunct therapy by patients themselves. Its efficacy needs additional exploration. Further research for adults with asthma who practice imagery is important, as current treatments are not entirely efficacious. Lessons learned in this study may facilitate improvement in research designs.