Effectiveness of body awareness therapy on pain and pain coping strategies in postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled study.

ObjectiveOur study aimed to compare the effectiveness of adding Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) to Therapeutic Exercises (TE) and TE alone on pain and pain coping strategies in postmenopausal women (PmW).MethodsA total of 54 PmW with chronic musculoskeletal pain (cMSP) were randomly assigned to three groups. The first group underwent a combined intervention of BBAT and TE and the second group participated in a TE program 3 times a week for 12 weeks. The control group didn't receive any treatment. Number of pain dimensions and pain severity of the participants were assessed with the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (MG-SF), body awareness levels were assessed with Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) and pain coping strategies were assessed with the Pain Coping Inventory (PCI).ResultsIn this study significant differences were found in pain intensity, number of pain dimensions, and PCI scores between the BBAT + TE and TE groups compared to the Control group, while the BBAT + TE group showed significant results in BAQ scores compared to the TE group.ConclusionFor PmW, participating in BBAT combined with TE program can be beneficial for pain parameters and body awareness. BBAT seems to be an equivalent and effective option for enhancing body awareness.