Autogenic training for chronic health conditions: A service evaluation.

Background: Autogenic training (AT) is a structured meditative-style practice, consisting of a sequence of simple mental exercises intended to induce a relaxed state in patients. There is some emerging evidence to suggest that AT can be effective in treating certain chronic conditions, however, further evidence is required. A service evaluation of AT services at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine was conducted to evaluate the impact of AT on patients with chronic conditions.

Methods: The service evaluation consisted of the completion of validated quantitative outcome measures pre and posttreatment to explore the impact of AT. AT patients were asked to complete the Measure Yourself Medical Outcomes Profile (MYMOP) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) at their first hospital appointment (baseline) and then again 8 weeks later following completion of their AT sessions. Pre- and posttreatment scores for each outcome measure were analysed in SPSS using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results: One hundred ninety-nine patients completed both initial and follow-up MYMOP forms and were included in the evaluation. The most common presenting complaints for MYMOP symptom 1 were prolonged anxiety/stress and depression (n = 70, 35.2%), chronic pain and migraine headache (n = 44, 22.1%), chronic insomnia and sleep problems (n = 42, 21.1%) and, long-term exhaustion and fatigue (n = 18, 9%). The change in median score pre- and posttreatment for all MYMOP categories (symptoms, activity and well-being) were statistically highly significant p < 0.001. Anxiety, stress, depression, pain and insomnia were the symptoms that had the largest statistically significant difference between the median score pre- and posttreatment. Fifty-five patients completed the PSS questionnaire at two time points (pre- and posttreatment). It showed a highly statistically significant change in PSS median score in patients experiencing stress (p < 0.001).

Discussion: The findings of the evaluation indicate that 8 weeks of AT appears to be effective in improving symptoms of concern to patients and enhancing patients' overall well-being. In particular, AT was found to be beneficial for patients with symptoms of anxiety, stress, depression, pain and insomnia.