Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
[Cognitive behavior therapy in patients with ankylosing spondylitis].
As an adjunctive treatment, a cognitive-behavioral program for pain management was administered to 25 patients with spondylitis ankylosans organized in self-help groups of the German Rheumatism-League. Another 20 patients with the same disorder served as a waiting-for-treatment control-group. ⋯ In a six-month follow-up, significant reductions in pain intensity, in impairments due to pain, in anxiety, and in sleep disorders could be confirmed by analyses of variance. Besides in improvement in pain control, our results indicate a long-term effect on wellbeing as a consequence of our program.