JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Management of children with functional abdominal pain (FAP) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is difficult in primary care. When education and reassurance do not alleviate symptoms, primary care physicians lack treatment options for children with FAP or IBS. Home-based guided hypnotherapy is a promising treatment because of its accessibility. To address feasibility, it is of utmost importance to take experiences from children and their parents into account.

Objective:

To explore children’s and parents’ experiences with home-based guided hypnotherapy for children with FAP or IBS.

Methods:

This qualitative study used open-ended questions from a questionnaire and in-depth semi-structured interviews with children and parents following a hypnotherapy intervention. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were collected and analyzed iteratively using thematic content analysis.

Results:

We collected questionnaire data from 56 children and conducted 23 interviews with children and parents. Six themes emerged from questionnaires and interviews: perception of the exercises, not for everyone, influence of perceived effect, integrating exercises in daily life, content and practicalities of the website, and customization to personal preferences. Children with FAP or IBS experienced home-based guided hypnotherapy and the exercises differently, ranging from boring to fun. From interviews with parents emerged that hypnotherapy is not suitable for everyone, for example when children are very young or have a low developmental level, cannot sit still, cannot surrender to the exercises, or are too energetic or stressed it might be difficult to comply. Experiences were shaped by the influence of a perceived effect and to which extent children were able to integrate exercises in daily life. The content and practicalities of the website also influenced experiences, and hypnotherapy that is adaptable to personal preferences including appearance and content would be highly appreciated.

Conclusions:

Children and parents experienced home-based guided hypnotherapy differently ranging from boring to fun. Hypnotherapy might be difficult or boring for some children. Children enjoyed hypnotherapy when they liked the topic or story, felt positive effects, could easily integrate exercises in daily life or enjoyed the website in general. Children’s experiences and adherence can be further improved by adding short exercises and customizing hypnotherapy to their personal preferences on website appearance and content. This could increase effectiveness, but must be studied further. Clinical Trial: This qualitative study is part of the ZelfHy study, a randomized controlled trial evaluating the (cost)effectiveness of home-based guided hypnotherapy in children with FAP or IBS in primary care (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05636358).