Adjunctive Approaches for Sickle Cell Chronic Pain

The present study piloted an investigation of the effectiveness of relaxation training and massage therapy as adjunctive interventions in the management of chronic pain associated with sickle cell disease. Sixteen adults with sickle cell disease were randomly assigned to receive either relaxation training or massage therapy. Visual analogue scales of pain were obtained before and after each session. The McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Sickness Impact Profile were completed at the first and sixth session. Treatment by the interventions was associated with short-term reduction in both sensory (p = .001) and affective (p = .002) dimensions of pain, and longer-term reduction in both sensory (p = .01) and affective (p = .02) dimensions of pain. There were no time by type-of-intervention interaction effects, indicating that relaxation training and massage therapy were not significantly different in effectiveness. There were no significant main effects or interactions in the Sickness Impact Questionnaire and McGill Pain Questionnaire scores in either condition. Further investigation is needed to establish the reliability and generalizability of the current findings. Special considerations concerning use of these interventions with this patient population are discussed, as are limitations of the current study.

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