Non-randomised trial, 2018
Does guided imagery relaxation reduce menstrual pain?
Yes. Girls using guided imagery had pain scores of 2.6 compared to 4.6 in controls. This is from a small study, so the evidence is promising but not yet strong.
What they did
Researchers compared two groups of adolescents: one received guided imagery relaxation therapy for menstrual pain and one did not. Pain was measured before and after.
What they found
The guided imagery group had an average pain score of 2.6 (±0.5) while the control group had 4.6 (±0.6), a 2-point difference.
What it means for you
Guided imagery may help reduce menstrual pain. However, the abstract does not state the total number of girls studied or how long the therapy lasted, making it hard to assess the strength of evidence. Conducted in Indonesia.
2.6±0.5
pain score with guided imagery
4.6±0.6
control group pain score
2 points
difference between groups
About the study
- Original title
- Effect of Relaxation Guided Imagery on Premenstrual Syndrome in Adolescent
- Authors
- Hanna Sriyanti Saragih, Hotma Sauhur Hutagaol
- Journal
- Jurnal Keperawatan Soedirman
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Non-randomised trial
- What was tested
- Guided imagery relaxation therapy
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.20884/1.jks.2016.11.2.645
Original abstract
Menstruation is a periodical bleeding according to its cycle. Menstrual pain is a painful feeling during menstruation at the lower region that accompanying menstruation, before, or after menstruation. Guided Imagery relaxation is a common method which is the utmost method especially for patients experiencing pain. Therefore a study to examine the effect of relaxation therapy in relieving pain is required. This study was to examine the discrepancy of menstrual pain level before and after guided imagery relaxation performed. This quasi experiment with pre and posttest control group design was to investigate the effect of a guided imagery relaxation therapy on the menstrual pain. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney test with significant threshold set to 0.05. Results indicated that the experiment group experienced menstrual pain score mean 2.6 � 0.5, while in the control group 4.6 � 0.6. It concluded that guided imagery relaxation effect on menstrual pain.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
Topics
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