Hypnotherapy for disability-related pain: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Hypnotherapy can address the biopsychosocial aspects of disability-related pain, although the available evidence is limited in quality and quantity. Meta-analytic techniques were utilised to evaluate 10 controlled studies. Hypnotherapy produced significant short-term improvements in fatigue, pain experience and affect. However, a lack of significance was noted at 3- to 6-month follow-up. A beneficial effect size ( dw = 0.53; confidence interval = 0.28–0.84) in comparison to control conditions was reported, although comparability with other cognitive-behavioural treatments could not be confirmed across the few studies reporting this data ( dw = 0.06; confidence interval = −0.33 to 0.45). The findings highlight the need for further controlled and longitudinal research in this area.