Study characteristics and results from included trials
| Study features | Weydert et al, 200621 | Vlieger et al, 2007;23 Vlieger et al, 201225* | Van Tilburg et al, 200922 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No of patients: Hypnotherapy/self-exercises vs controls | 14 vs 8 | 27 vs 25 | 19 vs 15 |
| IBS severity: Duration of symptoms | >3 months | >1 year | >3 months |
| Interventions: Hypnotherapy/self-exercises | Standard medical care +4 hypnotherapy sessions during 1 month | 6 Hypnotherapy sessions during 3 months | Standard care + guided imagery; 3 biweekly sessions, including 1 booster session + 3 daily sessions. Listen to tape with self-exercises ≥5 days/week. Treatment period 2 months |
| Control | Standard medical care + supportive therapy including breathing exercises | Standard medical care + supportive therapy | Standard medical care |
| Pain/symptom score: Instrument Baseline End of therapy Direction/p value Long-term results | Pain days per month Hypnotherapy vs controls 23.0 vs 14.4 7.5 vs 11.3 % improvement: 67% vs 21% Favours hypnotherapy (p = 0.05) % improvement at 1 month follow up:82% vs 45% (p < 0.01) | Abdominal pain dairy. Likert scale (0–4). Daily score summed total week score hypnotherapy vs controls PIS: 13.5 vs 13.9 PFS: 13.7 vs 14.1 PIS: 3 vs 10 PFS: 2.7 vs 11.6 Favours hypnotherapy (p = 0.001) % treatment success at 1 year: 85% vs 25% (p < 0.001) % treatment success at 5 years:* 68% vs 20% (p = 0.005) | Abdominal pain index. Likert scale (0–40) Self-excersises vs control 18.7 vs 20.1 9.0 vs 17 Absolute improvement: 9.7 vs 3.1 Favours self-excersises (p=0.02) No comparison reported (only pain scores at 6 months for self-exercise group) |
| Quality of life/wellbeing: Baseline End of therapy Direction/p value | Not reported | Not reported | Paediatric quality of life inventory: self-exercises vs. control 24.7 vs 32.4 28.2 vs 9.3 Favours self-exercises (p=0.049) |
| Costs | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| School/work absenteeism Baseline End of therapy Long-term results | Days with missed activities hypnotherapy vs controls: 4.0 vs 1.3 % improvement: 85% vs 15% (p = 0.02) % improvement 1 month follow up: 95% vs 77% (p = 0.05) | % of school absenteeism hypnotherapy vs controls: 78% vs 68% Not reported % patients >6 days of school/work missed at 5 year follow-up:* 11% vs 32% (p = 0.09) | Missed school days Self-exercises vs controls: 0.9 vs. 1.8 0.7 vs. 1.7 (favours self-exercises, p=0.2) Not reported |
| Methodological quality Score on Delphi list19 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
HT, hypnotherapy; IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; PFS, pain frequency score; PIS, pain intensity score.