BACKGROUNDEurythmy therapy is a movement therapy of anthroposophic medicine that can have effects on a person's physical body, spirit, and soul.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this publication was to update and summarize the relevant literature on the effectiveness of eurythmy in a therapeutic context since 2008.

SEARCH STRATEGYDifferent databases like PubMed, MEDPILOT, Research Gate, The Cochrane Library, DIMDI, Arthe and also the journal databases Der Merkurstab and the European Journal of Integrative Medicine were searched for prospective and retrospective clinical trials in German or English language.

INCLUSION CRITERIAThere were no limitations for indication, considered outcome or age of participants.

DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSISStudies were evaluated with regard to their description of the assembly process and treatment, adequate reporting of follow-ups, and equality of comparison groups in controlled trials.

RESULTSEleven studies met the inclusion criteria. These included two single-arm, non-controlled pilot studies, two publications on the same non-randomized controlled trial and one case study; six further studies referred to a prospective cohort study, the Anthroposophic Medicine Outcome Study. Most of these studies described positives treatment effects with varying effect sizes. The studies were heterogynous according to the indications, age groups, study design and measured outcome. The methodological quality of the studies varied considerably. There were no clear improvements since 2008, when the recommendations were published in the first review.

CONCLUSIONEurythmy seems to be a beneficial add-on in a therapeutic context that can improve the health conditions of affected persons. More methodologically sound studies are needed to substantiate this positive impression.

Arthroscopy ; Behavior Therapy ; methods ; Exercise Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; Postoperative Care ; methods

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the sex therapy for erectile dysfunction (ED).

METHODSWe recommended the sex therapy to ED patients and their partners (11 couples in all) in the outpatient department. Of the total number of volunteers, 2 males were accompanied by ejaculation disorder, another 2 with hyposexuality, and 1 female had vaginismus. The effect of the therapy was assessed and the problems with it analyzed by interviews with the subjects and the results of International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) before and after the treatment.

RESULTSOf the 11 pairs of volunteers, 5 quitted halfway and 1 discontinued at the therapists' decision. The 5 couples who accomplished the whole therapy felt more satisfied with their sexual life and general relationship, with improved scores on all the items of IIEF, particularly on erectile function (EF), with the only exception of sexual desire (SD).

CONCLUSIONThe sex therapy is effective not only for ED but also for other accompanying sexual dysfunctions, the sexual dysfunctions of the patients' partners and the improvement of the general relationship of the couples.

Adult ; Aged ; Behavior Therapy ; methods ; Erectile Dysfunction ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sexual Behavior ; Sexual Partners ; Treatment Outcome

The primary premature ejaculation (PPE) is a common male sexual disorder. We proposed a novel behavioral therapy for PPE through regular penis-root masturbation (PRM). Nine heterosexual men with PPE completed the self-controlled study. After a 3-month PRM training, the median intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) increased from 60 s to 180 s (P = 0.018), and the mean Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) score decreased from 14.8 ± 3.7 to 12.8 ± 4.1 (P = 0.074). Five out of eight patients had the prolonged dorsal nerve somatosensory evoked potential (DNSEP). The results suggest that PRM has a short-term therapeutic effect. Randomized controlled trials are needed to validate the efficacy.
Adult ; Behavior Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Male ; Masturbation ; Penis ; Premature Ejaculation/therapy*

BACKGROUND: This research compared the effectiveness of play therapy provided individually or in groups for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms among children. METHODS: This was a randomized controlled trial that used a multi-stage random sampling method. Participants included 45 children aged 6 to 10 years old with ODD, all of whom had been referred to medical consultation centers in Ahvaz, Iran in 2012. Experimental groups consisted of 15 children receiving individual play therapy and 15 receiving group play therapy, while the control group consisted of 15 randomly selected children. Data were collected using the child behavior checklist parent report form and teacher report form, along with clinical interviews with the parents. Play therapy took place weekly for eight total sessions; individual sessions lasted 45 minutes each, while group sessions were each 60 minutes in duration. Participants were assessed in three stages, including pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 2-month follow-up. PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and analysis of covariance analysis methods were used to analyze data. RESULTS: Results showed meaningful decreases in ODD symptoms in the experimental groups in comparison with the control group, based on parent reporting (P≤0.001 and F=129.40) and the teacher reports additionally showed meaningful decreases in ODD symptoms in the experimental groups compared to the control group, (P≤0.001 and F=93.14). Furthermore, the effects were maintained after 2 months. CONCLUSION: This research supports the efficacy of individual and group play therapy for the treatment of ODD in children, as well as the consistency of the effects at 2-month follow-up.
Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders ; Checklist ; Child Behavior ; Child ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Iran ; Methods ; Parents ; Play Therapy ; Psychotherapy

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of acupuncture combined behavior intervention on children with autism.

METHODSPatients were treated by "Jin's three-needling" as the main measure with the assistance of behavior intervention, and the changes were compared among the three groups (29 cases in combination group, 15 cases in acupuncture group and 10 cases in intervention group) before and after treatment of various factors and scores estimated by the autism behavior checklist (ABC) and autism development checklist (ADC).

RESULTSIn the combination group, the total scores of ABC and most factors of ABC including body movement, social communication and language factor were improved significantly after treatment (P < 0.01), but there was no significant changes in sense factor and daily life self-caring factor (P > 0.05). Comparison of most items of ADC before and after treatment also showed significant difference (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture combined behavior intervention has better therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of children with autism.

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Autistic Disorder ; therapy ; Behavior Therapy ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to examine the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention program combining pelvic floor muscle exercise with bladder training for urinary incontinence and also to conduct follow-up assessment after self-training. METHODS: This study was conducted using a non-equivalent control group, pretest-posttest design. The subjects were 60 middle-aged women (control group, n=30; intervention group, n=30) who experienced an episode of urinary incontinence at least once a week. The program was run over a 4 week period (once a week) and composed of urinary incontinence education, pelvic floor muscle exercise, and bladder training. RESULTS: Overall, there was a significant difference in urinary incontinence symptoms and psycho-social wellbeing related to urinary incontinence between the treatment and control group. Of the variables, weekly leakage frequencies, leakage amounts on each occasion, leakage index, frequencies of nocturia, and quality of life were significantly different between the groups. Follow-up assessment (9th week) indicated that overall incontinence symptoms and psycho-social well-being were significantly different between the posttest and follow-up assessments. Most variables of incontinence symptoms and psycho-social well-being were significantly improved at follow-up assessment versus posttest. CONCLUSIONS: The program was overall effective in terms of relieving symptoms and improving psycho-social well-being related to urinary incontinence, and this effect continued after a 4-weeks self-training period. In the respect that this is a community-based application study, the results can be meaningful and applicable.
Urinary Incontinence/*rehabilitation ; *Pelvic Floor ; Multivariate Analysis ; Middle Aged ; Humans ; Female ; Exercise Therapy/*methods ; Behavior Therapy/*methods ; Adult

INTRODUCTIONAn accurate assessment of peer victimisation (i.e. bullying) is a necessary precondition for research and intervention. Most assessment instruments use the 'list of acts' measurement strategy, which does not account for the actual physical and psychological damage inflicted by bullying. To resolve this limitation, this study developed a peer victimisation scale (PVS) that includes harmful consequences for judgement and measurement of peer victimisation.

METHODSThe PVS is a 40-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the four aspects of peer victimisation: physical, verbal, relational, and interference and control. A total of 1,469 Grade 3-8 students (49.9% male) were recruited to test the psychometric properties of the PVS. Another 420 Grade 3-8 students were examined by a modified PVS supplemented with a semi-structured interview for scale validation and establishment of the cut-off points for severe bullying. Incidence, age and gender distribution of peer victimisation were also analysed.

RESULTSThe PVS demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.73-0.83) and test-retest reliability two weeks later (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.71-0.80). The scores for each dimension were significantly and positively correlated with the scores from the questionnaire-interview sample (r = 0.73-0.78), and modestly correlated with the scores for symptoms of anxiety and depression (r = 0.36-0.54).

CONCLUSIONThe results were consistent with the measurement constructs, demonstrating that the PVS is a reliable and effective instrument for assessing peer victimisation in children. It may enable more reliable longitudinal studies assessing the impact of peer victimisation to be conducted.

Behavior Therapy ; methods ; Bullying ; prevention & control ; Child ; Depression ; diagnosis ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Peer Group ; Psychometrics ; methods ; standards ; Reproducibility of Results ; Social Behavior ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Many eating behaviors form in childhood, and some unhealthy behaviors may persist into adulthood and have potential impacts on people's health. This study evaluated the effectiveness of behavioral intervention in reducing consumption of Western fast food, sweetened beverages, fried food in preschool children, and changing parents' rewarding behaviors that encourage the consumption of the unhealthy foods. The research was a cluster randomized trial of seven kindergartens, involving 1138 children aged 3-6 years and their parents in Beijing, China. Parents and children allocated to the intervention group received two lectures and printed resources, including behavior cards, educational sheets. Children's behavior cards, applied with behavior-changing techniques, were used to intervene, and monitor behavior changes over time. Children in the control group just followed their usual health education curriculum in kindergartens. Intervention effects on food consumption behaviors were assessed by examining pre- and post-questionnaires. Of the 1138 children screened at baseline, 880 (77.3%) were measured at the end of the intervention period. The intervention lasted from March to June in 2010. The results showed that consumption of Western fast food, sweetened beverages, and fried food was decreased among the intervention group (P<0.001). Proportions of parents using Western fast food as rewards for their children were decreased (P=0.002). From March to June 2010, the frequency of each target behavior in children tended to decrease over the intervention period (P<0.001). Most parents favored regularly-delivered behavior cards or materials for behavioral intervention. In conclusion, the behavioral intervention encourages the healthier eating behaviors of children and reduces the parents' practice of using unhealthy foods as reward.
Adult ; Behavior Control ; methods ; Behavior Therapy ; methods ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diet, Western ; adverse effects ; Fast Foods ; adverse effects ; Feeding Behavior ; psychology ; Female ; Healthy Diet ; Humans ; Male ; Parents ; psychology ; Reward

BACKGROUND: An inability to cope with threatening dental stimuli, i.e., sight, sound, and sensation of airotor, manifests as anxiety and behavioral management problems. Behavior modification techniques involving pre-exposure to dental equipment will give children a first-hand experience of their use, sounds, and clinical effects. The aim of this study was to compare the techniques of Tell-Show-Play-doh, a smartphone dentist game, and a conventional Tell-Show-Do method in the behavior modification of anxious children in the dental operatory. METHODS: Sixty children in the age group of 4-8 years, with Frankl's behavior rating score of 2 or 3, requiring Class I and II cavity restorations were divided into three groups. The groups were Group 1: Tell-Show-Play-doh; Group 2: smartphone dentist game; and Group 3: Tell-Show-Do technique and each group comprised of 20 children. Pulse rate, Facial Image Scale (FIS), Frankl's behavior rating scale, and FLACC (Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolability) behavior scales were used to quantify anxious behavior. Operator compliance was recorded through a validated questionnaire. RESULTS: The results showed lower mean pulse rates, lower FIS and FLACC scores, higher percentage of children with Frankl's behavior rating score of 4, and better operator compliance in both the Tell-Show-Play-doh and smartphone dentist game groups than in the conventional Tell-Show-Do group. CONCLUSION: The Tell-Show-Play-doh and smartphone dentist game techniques are effective tools to reduce dental anxiety in pediatric patients.
Anxiety ; Behavior Rating Scale ; Behavior Therapy ; Child ; Compliance ; Dental Anxiety ; Dental Equipment ; Dentists ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Leg ; Methods ; Pediatric Dentistry ; Sensation ; Smartphone ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical effect of acupoint stimulating control (ASC) in treating obsessive compulsive neurosis.

METHODSThe comparative study was conducted in 65 patients with obsessive compulsive neurosis, they were divided into two groups, the 33 patients in the control group treated with chlorimipramine and the 32 in the tested group treated with ASC. The therapeutic efficacy and adverse reaction were assessed according to the standard for clinical efficacy evaluation by Yale-Brown scale for obsession (Y-BOCS)and adverse reaction scale.

RESULTSThe curative rate and markedly effective rate in the control group was 24.2% (8/33) and 27.3% (19/33), which in the tested group was 37.5% (12/32) and 34.4% (11/32) respectively. Significant difference was shown in comparison of Y-BOCS score between the two groups from the end of the 4th week of treatment (P < 0.05), indicating the efficacy in the tested group was better than that in the control group. Moreover, the occurrence of adverse reaction was higher in the control group than that in the tested group.

CONCLUSIONASC is a treatment with good effect, less adverse reaction and favourable safety superior to the treatment by chlorimipramine.

Acupuncture Points ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Behavior Control ; methods ; Behavior Therapy ; Clomipramine ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ; therapy ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation ; methods