Reactions of Outpatients to the Relaxation Technique Applied for the First Time and its Effects of Repeated Sessions

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the reactions of outpatients to the relaxation technique applied for the first time and the differences in the reactions between the outpatients who did and did not return for repeat sessions, and based on that, think about an effect to repeated sessions. Method: The study included 143 patients who visited the outpatient relaxation department of Hospital A from April 2006 to March 2014. Data on the age, sex, underlying disease, number of visits, stress level, and relaxed level were extracted from the medical records of the subjects. The reactions of the subjects to the technique applied for the first time was compared by the patient characteristics and number of further visits for the procedure. Result: The mean age of the 143 patients (male: 16, female: 127) included in this study was 49.0 T 13.9 years. The underlying diseases were as follows: psychiatric disease (n=46), physical disease (n=68), and other (n=29). The stress level was high in patients in their 10's and 20's (p=0.004). The relaxed levels were lower in the patients who underwent only one session as compared to those who underwent repeated sessions (p=0.028). Conclusion: It is important to consider how patients can incorporate the method into their daily lives, depending on the reaction levels by age, disease and experience, so that they can continue to practice the technique by themselves.