CHILDRENS COMPLIANCE WITH PROGRESSIVE RELAXATION PROCEDURES FOR IMPROVING HEADACHE CONTROL

Compliance has been an overlooked area in occupational therapy practic e and research. Compliance with progressive relaxation training for re current headache relief was determined for 10 children. A multiple bas eline across subjects design was used. Baseline periods were assigned randomly and ranged from 7 to 25 days with treatment introduced in a t ime-staggered-fashion. Subjects received a 6-week program that include d weekly training sessions supplemented with daily home practice. Comp liance was determined by the subject's correct recording of a password randomly placed on a cassette relaxation tape. Mean compliance across subjects was 84% (range: 36% to 100%). Noncompliance occurred 74% of the time when subjects reported being headache-free for that day. Eigh t of the subjects had a 2% to 30% (mean: 15%) increase in headache-fre e days. This study indicated that compliance with relaxation training does not result consistently in headache relief Guidelines for the occ upational therapist's assessment of patient compliance with treatment regimens are provided. Results and implications for future research al so are discussed.