Evaluating Snoezelen for relaxation within chronic pain management.

This experimental study investigated the use of Snoezelen - a sensory environment purported to produce relaxation - against traditional relaxation within the pain clinic setting. The variables measured included pain, anxiety, depression, coping, self-efficacy and disability. Assessments were carried out at three time intervals on a range of symptoms designed to reflect the multidimensional nature of the chronic pain experience, including pain intensity and quality, anxiety, depression, coping, confidence and quality of life. The experimental group experienced significant reductions in pain (sensory score P=0.002), and an improvement in self-efficacy (P=0.02) and sickness impact for the following scales: physical (P=0.009), psychosocial (P=0.009), recreation (P=0.001), sleep (P=0.001) and sickness impact total (P=0.001). The control group experienced significant improvements in sickness impact scales of psychosocial (P=0.05), sleep (P=0.01) and sickness impact total (P=0.004). The findings suggest that Snoezelen environments are as effective as, if not slightly better than, teaching relaxation within the traditional pain clinic environment for this group of patients.

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