Authors (including presenting author) :
Lam CCS(1), Leung AKY(1), Louie FTM(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, Hong Kong
Introduction :
Bowen Therapy (BT) is one of the occupational therapy (OT) interventions for patient with chronic pain (CP). BT involves unique rolling movements over soft tissue and performs at precise locations on the body. It is said to be effective in stimulating the body to heal itself and relief pain. Occupational therapist treats CP patients with BT to re-integrate meaningful life with reduced pain intensity.
Objectives :
To evaluate chronic pain patients’ in 1) Pain level 2) Pain self-efficacy and 3) Life functioning after receiving BT.
Methodology :
20 patients with CP were referred to OT department in Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital for BT from August to December 2020. 10 of them received 6 sessions of BT weekly and were recruited into treatment group. Another 10 patients were on waiting list for BT and recruited into control group. For the treatment group, outcomes were obtained prior to the first (baseline) and at the last BT sessions (post-treatment). For the control group, outcomes were obtained at 1-week and 6-weeks without receiving BT in this period. Pain level was assessed using a numerical rating scale (NRS) from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain). Pain self-efficacy was assessed using the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ). Life functioning of people in 4 aspects (leisure, social, home-maker and worker life functioning) were assessed using Life Functioning Assessment Inventory (L-FAI). It rated from 0 (worst) to 10 (excellent) for each aspect. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used to calculate the pre and post differences between the outcome variables for both groups. The significance level of p value less than 0.05 was used. All analyses were performed using SPSS software V.25.0.
Result & Outcome :
Results:
NRS (Z = -2.84; P = 0.004) and PSEQ (Z = -2.807; P = 0.005) were significantly improved in treatment group. L-FAI in both groups, NRS and PSEQ in control group did not have significant difference statistically.
Conclusion:
BT shows significant reduction in pain and improvement in pain self-efficacy for patients with CP in this study. A longer course (over 6 sessions) of BT supplemented with life coaching intervention may be needed to impact patient’s life functioning. To conclude, BT should be considered to integrate in OT pain management interventions.
