Hypnosis versus relaxation for anxiety in COPD pulmonary rehabilitation: a cluster-randomized trial

Adjunctive medical hypnosis during COPD pulmonary rehabilitation did not reduce State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores more than matched structured relaxation at week 4 (+0.95; 95% credible interval -5.85 to 7.42).

• Why it matters: Anxiety is common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is linked to worse outcomes, but technique-specific effects of mind-body adjuncts and who benefits most remain unclear.
• What they did: In a cluster-randomized, active-comparator trial of 80 participants across 24 inpatient 4-week pulmonary rehabilitation cohorts, hypnosis and structured relaxation were matched on session length, practitioner pool, and framing.
• The result: Anxiety improved in both groups (pooled -5.72; -9.35 to -2.00), with no deaths or serious adverse events; exploratory moderation suggested hypnosis advantage increased with baseline sensory and decreased with affective dyspnea burden.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.