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Audio-recorded guided imagery treatment reduces functional abdominal pain in children: a pilot study
Miranda A L van Tilburg1, Denesh K Chitkara, Olafur S Palsson
1Center for Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. tilburg@med.unc.edu
Insights
Home-based guided imagery therapy significantly improved abdominal pain in children compared to standard care alone. These positive effects on pediatric functional abdominal pain were sustained for six months.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Behavioral Medicine
Background:
- Functional abdominal pain is a common condition in children.
- Current treatments for pediatric functional abdominal pain have variable efficacy.
- Novel, accessible therapeutic interventions are needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a home-based guided imagery protocol for pediatric functional abdominal pain.
- To assess the ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and applicability of the intervention.
- To compare guided imagery plus standard medical care with standard medical care alone.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 34 children (6-15 years) with functional abdominal pain.
- Participants received either standard medical care or standard medical care plus a 2-month home-based guided imagery program.
- Outcomes were assessed over a 6-month follow-up period.
Main Results:
- Guided imagery materials were user-friendly and well-tolerated, with a 98.5% compliance rate.
- Children receiving guided imagery showed significantly higher response rates (63.1%) compared to standard care alone (26.7%; P = .03).
- Treatment benefits were maintained at 6 months post-intervention.
Conclusions:
- Home-based guided imagery is a superior and effective adjunctive therapy for pediatric functional abdominal pain.
- The intervention demonstrates sustained efficacy and is suitable for widespread clinical application.
- Guided imagery offers a promising, non-invasive approach for managing chronic pediatric pain conditions.
Objective:
This study was designed to develop and to test a home-based, guided imagery treatment protocol, using audio and video recordings, that is easy for health care professionals and patients to use, is inexpensive, and is applicable to a wide range of health care settings.
Methods:
Thirty-four children, 6 to 15 years of age, with a physician diagnosis of functional abdominal pain were assigned randomly to receive 2 months of standard medical care with or without home-based, guided imagery treatment. Children who received only standard medical care initially received guided imagery treatment after 2 months. Children were monitored for 6 months after completion of guided imagery treatment.
Results:
All treatment materials were reported to be self-explanatory, enjoyable, and easy to understand and to use. The compliance rate was 98.5%. In an intention-to-treat analysis, 63.1% of children in the guided imagery treatment group were treatment responders, compared with 26.7% in the standard medical care-only group (P = .03; number needed to treat: 3). Per-protocol analysis showed similar results (73.3% vs 28.6% responders). When the children in the standard medical care group also received guided imagery treatment, 61.5% became treatment responders. Treatment effects were maintained for 6 months (62.5% responders).
Conclusion:
Guided imagery treatment plus medical care was superior to standard medical care only for the treatment of abdominal pain, and treatment effects were sustained over a long period.
