The Treatment of Writer's Cramp with Multimodal Behaviour Therapy and Biofeedback: A Study of 15 Cases

Abstract

Of 15 patients with writer's cramp (4 females, 11 males, mean age 36, range 23-50, mean duration 3.6 years), 13 entered a behavioural treatment. Nine received a multimodal treatment, and four EMG feedback alone. Four patients dropped out during the treatment phase. Nine patients were considered as improved at a follow-up between 1 and 9 months. A stress-coping model is put forward to account for the therapeutic effectiveness, and to explain the drop-outs. Writer's cramp seems to be related to stressful situations at work. The existence of personality and biological factors remains to be demonstrated.