Sensory stimulation (snoezelen) versus relaxation: a potential strategy for the management of chronic pain

Purpose : The sensory environment (Snoezelen) has been advocated by those w orking in the field of learning disabilities and mental health as a strateg y to induce relaxation. The purpose of the current study was to explore thi s potential within the field of pain management where the use of relaxation techniques is often employed as a strategy for the management of chronic p ain. Thus the current study was designed in order to determine the use of t he sensory environment compared against a traditional relaxation programme used within a District General hospital pain clinic. Method: Seventy three patients were randomly allocated into either a contro l or experimental group. Data collection involved the administration of que stionnaires, which were selected in order to reflect the multidimensional n ature of the chronic pain experience. Hence measures included: pain intensi ty, pain quality, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, coping and sickness i mpact. Analysis was performed using SPSS and included Friedman two-way anal ysis and repeated measures analysis of variance. Results : The results indicated that the experimental group experienced a s ignificant increase in pain (p=0.03), but they improved significantly in di sability associated with sleep (p=0.01), psychosocial (p=0.03) and sickness impact total (p=0.004). The experimental group experienced a significant decrease in pain (sensory - p=0.002), (number of words chosen - p = 0.008), (pain rating index - p - 0.002). Furthermore a reduction in disability associated with physical (p = 0.009), psychosocial (p = 0.009), sleep (p = 0.001), recreation (p = 0.001 ) and SIP total (p = 0.001). Repeated measures analysis of variance reveale d a significant improvement with the experimental group in terms of pain (p = 0.04) and self-efficacy (p = 0.02). Conclusions : The patients who attended the sensory environment did slightl y better that those who attended the traditional relaxation programme in te rms of self-efficacy. Thus the current study indicates the potential for fu ture research into chronic pain management.