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EFFECTIVENESS OF HYPNOTHERAPY WITH CANCER PATIENTS 337
contexts. Wild and Espie (2004) recommend that research investigating
effectiveness be done with as much methodological rigor as with
research investigating efficacy. However, it is of utmost importance
that evidence-based studies include efforts to produce clinical trials
closer to patients’ preoccupations and engage clinicians and treatment
delivery settings (Spring et al., 2005).
The goal of this paper is to systematically and critically review evi-
dence on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for emesis, analgesia, and
anxiolysis in acute pain, specifically in procedures with an emphasis
on the period from 1999 to 2006. Further, it aims to provide a theoretical
rationale for the use of hypnosis with the cancer population in the
whole illness/treatment trajectory in several clinical contexts. Finally, it
puts forth a treatment protocol to manage overt anxiety and phobic reac-
tions in the radiotherapy suite in view of its future empirical validation.
M
ETHOD
Search and Selection
From January 1999 to January 2006, two health researchers (S.N.
and R.S.) independently identified studies in bibliographic databases.
The search covered the Medline and PsycINFO databases using key-
words, including
cancer
and
hypnosis
, and
cancer
and
hypnosis
with:
pain
,
emesis
,
procedures
,
nausea
,
vomiting
, and
claustrophobia
;
procedures
and
pain
,
procedures
and
anxiety
. The initial search was supplemented
by searching references quoted in identified papers (e.g., Nash, 2004).
The method chosen is a narrative evaluation of the research literature
in the years following Nash’s (2000) paper about the status of hypnosis
as an empirically supported clinical intervention. We reviewed studies
about the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for emesis, analgesia, and
anxiolysis in acute pain, specifically in procedures between 1999 and
2006. Therefore, anecdotal evidence was excluded with the exception
of anxiety, fear, and claustrophobia in radiotherapy. Other papers
published before 1999 were reviewed because of their clinical interest
as pointed out by reviewers in the 1999–2006 period.
Inclusion Criteria
To be included, a study had to include empirical research, focus on
cancer, procedures, and hypnosis or the intervention considered was
the use of clinical hypnosis for the relief of symptoms (emesis, anxiety,
claustrophobia, acute pain). If there was doubt about the relevance of a
reference, it was kept for a detailed assessment. For each reference, the
inclusion criteria were applied. Study appraisal for relevance and
methodological quality was done independently by the two authors
and disagreements were resolved by consensus. Only studies pub-
lished in English were appraised.
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