THE BENEFITS OF RELAXATION EXERCISE FOR CHRONIC COLITIS

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases are a group of inflammatory conditions in which the body?s own immune system attacks parts of the digestive system. Crohn?s disease and chronic colitis cause chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Objective: This study investigated evidence for the use of relaxation therapies as interventions to decrease inflammatory bowel diseases symptoms and severity as well as reduce anxiety and improve quality of life in chronic colitis patients. Methods: A search of electronic bibliographic databases was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials that included relaxation exercise programs for patients with chronic colitis. Progressive muscle relaxation technique was used to case group. Meanwhile dietary regulation group was used for control one and all studies were used in the static-analysis. Results: The results showed that the mean age of participant was 23? 3 years, mean weight was 58 ? 7 kg and mean height was 158 ? 3 meter. The results of our study revealed that there was not significant differences between group (p > 0.05) pretreatment in the mean value total score of clinical activity for the evaluation of patients with chronic colitis. The mean of the total score post treatment was 3.60 ? 0.69 in case group and was 4.80 ? 1.13 in control group. The different between groups was significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that there was a highly positive effect of relaxation exercise and dietary regulation in reducing colon pain. Further studies are needed to ascertain the long-term effects of relaxation therapy and the underlying psychosocial mechanisms, larger sample size, male group, different areas, different categories of age leading to anxiety reduction and improved quality of life.