Feasibility of Hypnotherapy in Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance Management in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Disease

The aim of this study was to test the clinical feasibility of hypnotherapy in the management of fatigue and sleep disturbances among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the south of Iran. Forty patients aged 25–47 were enrolled, and 22 (19 females, 3 males) completed eight 50-minute sessions of hypnotherapy for 10 weeks. Patients were required to practice the hypnotherapy sessions at home throughout the week. Participants completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at baseline and after the final hypnotherapy session. The mean MFI score was significantly reduced by 8.19 points following hypnotherapy (p <.05). The mean PSQI global score following hypnosis treatment significantly decreased from 7.4 ± 3.3 to 5.52 ± 3.12 (p <.05). Our results suggest that MS patients might benefit from hypnotherapy for controlling fatigue and sleep disturbance symptoms. Confirmative assessment is required in a randomized controlled trial after feasibility has been established.