Article

OBJECTIVE: To establish the effects of relaxation therapy on autonomic function,
pain, fatigue and daily functioning in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome or
fibromyalgia. METHOD: A systematic literature study was performed. Using specific
keywords related to fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome and relaxation
therapy, the electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science were searched.
Included articles were assessed for their risk of bias and relevant information
regarding relaxation was extracted. The review was conducted and reported
according to the PRISMA-statement. RESULTS: Thirteen randomized clinical trials
of sufficient quality were included, resulting in a total of 650 fibromyalgia
patients (11 studies) and 88 chronic fatigue syndrome patients (3 studies). None
of the studies reported effects on autonomic function. Six studies reported the
effect of guided imagery on pain and daily functioning in fibromyalgia. The acute
effect of a single session of guided imagery was studied in two studies and seems
beneficial for pain relief. For other relaxation techniques (eg. muscle
relaxation, autogenic training) no conclusive evidence was found for the effect
on pain and functioning in fibromyalgia patients comparison to multimodal
treatment programs. For fatigue a multimodal approach seemed better than
relaxation, as shown in the sole three studies on chronic fatigue syndrome
patients. CONCLUSION: There is moderate evidence for the acute effect of guided
imagery on pain, although the content of the visualization is a matter of debate.
Other relaxation formats and the effects on functionality and autonomic function
require further study.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS