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Does writing affect asthma? A randomized trial.

Alex H S Harris1, Carl E Thoresen, Keith Humphreys

  • 1Department of Veteran Affairs Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA. alexsox@sbcglobal.net

Psychosomatic Medicine
|January 28, 2005
PubMed
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Writing about emotional experiences did not improve lung function in asthma patients. This study found no significant benefits from stress or positive writing compared to neutral writing for asthma management.

Area of Science:

  • Pulmonary Medicine
  • Psychosomatic Medicine
  • Clinical Psychology

Background:

  • Nonpharmacologic treatments for asthma are explored as adjuncts to pharmacotherapy.
  • Evidence for written emotional expression improving asthma pulmonary function is limited to one unreplicated study.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test and extend previous research on written emotional expression's effect on asthma pulmonary function.
  • To compare the impact of writing about stressful experiences versus neutral topics.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial involving 117 adult asthma patients.
  • Participants were assigned to write about stressful, positive, or neutral experiences weekly for three weeks.
  • Spirometry (FEV1 and FVC) was assessed at baseline, postintervention, and 2-month follow-up.

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Main Results:

  • No statistically or clinically significant improvements in FEV1 or FVC were observed in the stress-writing or positive-writing groups compared to the control group.
  • Mean changes in FEV1 were 4.2% (stress), 1.3% (positive), and 3.0% (neutral).
  • Mean changes in FVC were 3.1% (stress), 3.6% (positive), and 2.4% (neutral).

Conclusions:

  • The study reduces confidence in written emotional expression as a beneficial intervention for asthma patients.
  • Findings suggest that current evidence does not support recommending this nonpharmacologic approach for asthma management.