Abstract
Data are limited on the role of psychotherapy in the treatment of Ménière disease. We sought to document the effect of a psychotherapeutic technique known as autogenic training on clinical outcome in Ménière disease. Six patients with Ménière disease were studied. Retrospective chart review was conducted. All patients were refractory to conventional therapy and completed a course of autogenic training, which was offered as a complementary treatment. Autogenic training with initial psychological counseling was conducted by a clinical psychologist during 45-min sessions. Outcome measures assessed were the frequency of vertigo and functional levels 2 years after initiation of autogenic training. Functional levels were evaluated according to the 1995 guidelines of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS). As a personality measure, we used the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI), devised by Eysenck, which measures neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), and propensity to lie (L). Five of six patients showed improved functional level after three to eight sessions of psychotherapy; hearing level did not change. The score of the N scale of the MPI was closely related to the number of psychotherapy sessions. Prognosis was evaluated based on the AAO-HNS reporting guidelines, as follows: A = 3, B = 1, C = 1, F = 1. The value of N in MPI was closely related to the number of psychological counseling sessions (R = 0.97, P < 0.05). In conclusion, autogenic training may enhance the mental well-being of patients with Ménière disease and improve clinical outcome.
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Acknowledgments
This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B), 19791233, 2008.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest with any financial support or any commercial source that may interfere, directly or indirectly, with the results reported in the present article.
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K. Nakai and K. Ogawa contributed equally to this work.
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Goto, F., Nakai, K. & Ogawa, K. Application of autogenic training in patients with Ménière disease. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 268, 1431–1435 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-011-1530-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-011-1530-1