Effects of Body Awareness Therapy in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate body awareness therapy (BAT) for treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to compare these patients with apparently healthy persons using physiotherapeutic examinations and questionnaires. IBS patients in this study scored higher for different gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms compared to the healthy control group. They showed disturbed body movement pattern and they had more often a stress pattern in their body. When 16 IBS patients received BAT for 12 weeks the gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms were reduced overall. When divided into groups of predominant symptom, the effect of BAT was more obvious for the group of patients suffering from mainly constipation. The relief of both the somatic discomforts as well as psychological symptoms may indicate that elevated tension constitutes an important part of the underlying causes for clinical expression in the IBS state. It means that an established underlying global stress would worsen the psychosomatic-associated symptoms in the IBS syndrome. If using this psychosomatic view of the patients and treating the state of tension, IBS patients may reduce their gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms. Whether the treatment of an IBS patient can be shortened compared to pharmacological treatment and the relief sustained for longer periods will be addressed in further studies.