CONTEXT: Therapists can use horticultural therapy as an adjuvant therapy in a non threatening context, with the intent of bringing about positive effects in physical health, mental health, and social interaction. Very few experimental studies exist that test its clinical effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the addition of horticultural therapy to a pain-management program improved physical function, mental health, and ability to cope with pain. DESIGN: The research team designed a prospective, nonrandomized, controlled cohort study, enrolling all patients consecutively referred to the Zurzach Interdisciplinary Pain Program (ZISP) who met the studys criteria. The team divided them into two cohorts based on when medical professionals referred them: before (control group) or after (intervention group) introduction of a horticultural therapy program. SETTING: The setting was the rehabilitation clinic (RehaClinic) in Bad Zurzach, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-nine patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (fibromyalgia or chronic, nonspecific back pain) participated in the study. INTERVENTIONS: The research team compared a 4-week, inpatient, interdisciplinary pain-management program with horticultural therapy (intervention, n = 37) with a pain-management program without horticultural therapy (control, n = 42). The horticultural therapy program consisted of seven sessions of group therapy, each of 1-hour duration. OUTCOME MEASURES: The research team assessed the outcome using the Medical Outcome Study Short Form-36 (SF-36), the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ ), and two functional performance tests. The team tested participants on entry to and discharge from the 4-week pain-management program. RESULTS: Between-group differences in sociodemographic and outcome variables were not significant on participants entry to the pain-management program. On discharge, the research team measured small to moderate outcome effects (effect size [ES] up to 0.71) within both groups. The study found significantly larger improvements for the horticultural therapy group vs the control group in SF-36 role physical (ES = 0.71 vs 0.22; P = .018); SF-36 mental health (ES = 0.46 vs 0.16; P = .027); HADS anxiety (ES = 0.26 vs 0.03; P = .043); and CSQ pain behavior (ES = 0.30 vs -0.05; P = .032). CONCLUSION: The addition of horticultural therapy to a pain management program improved participants' physical and mental health and their coping ability with respect to chronic musculoskeletal pain.
RCT Entities:
CONTEXT: Therapists can use horticultural therapy as an adjuvant therapy in a non threatening context, with the intent of bringing about positive effects in physical health, mental health, and social interaction. Very few experimental studies exist that test its clinical effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the addition of horticultural therapy to a pain-management program improved physical function, mental health, and ability to cope with pain. DESIGN: The research team designed a prospective, nonrandomized, controlled cohort study, enrolling all patients consecutively referred to the Zurzach Interdisciplinary Pain Program (ZISP) who met the studys criteria. The team divided them into two cohorts based on when medical professionals referred them: before (control group) or after (intervention group) introduction of a horticultural therapy program. SETTING: The setting was the rehabilitation clinic (RehaClinic) in Bad Zurzach, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-nine patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (fibromyalgia or chronic, nonspecific back pain) participated in the study. INTERVENTIONS: The research team compared a 4-week, inpatient, interdisciplinary pain-management program with horticultural therapy (intervention, n = 37) with a pain-management program without horticultural therapy (control, n = 42). The horticultural therapy program consisted of seven sessions of group therapy, each of 1-hour duration. OUTCOME MEASURES: The research team assessed the outcome using the Medical Outcome Study Short Form-36 (SF-36), the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ ), and two functional performance tests. The team tested participants on entry to and discharge from the 4-week pain-management program. RESULTS: Between-group differences in sociodemographic and outcome variables were not significant on participants entry to the pain-management program. On discharge, the research team measured small to moderate outcome effects (effect size [ES] up to 0.71) within both groups. The study found significantly larger improvements for the horticultural therapy group vs the control group in SF-36 role physical (ES = 0.71 vs 0.22; P = .018); SF-36 mental health (ES = 0.46 vs 0.16; P = .027); HADS anxiety (ES = 0.26 vs 0.03; P = .043); and CSQpain behavior (ES = 0.30 vs -0.05; P = .032). CONCLUSION: The addition of horticultural therapy to a pain management program improved participants' physical and mental health and their coping ability with respect to chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Authors: Howard Frumkin; Gregory N Bratman; Sara Jo Breslow; Bobby Cochran; Peter H Kahn; Joshua J Lawler; Phillip S Levin; Pooja S Tandon; Usha Varanasi; Kathleen L Wolf; Spencer A Wood Journal: Environ Health Perspect Date: 2017-07-31 Impact factor: 9.031
Authors: Kheng Siang Ted Ng; Angelia Sia; Maxel K W Ng; Crystal T Y Tan; Hui Yu Chan; Chay Hoon Tan; Iris Rawtaer; Lei Feng; Rathi Mahendran; Anis Larbi; Ee Heok Kua; Roger C M Ho Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2018-08-09 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Marina García-Llorente; Radha Rubio-Olivar; Inés Gutierrez-Briceño Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2018-06-17 Impact factor: 3.390