Knowledge level and beliefs of patients and their relatives about hypnosis and their attitudes toward use of hypnosis for sedation and analgesia purposes in the emergency department

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the knowledge level and beliefs of patients and their relatives about hypnosis and their attitudes toward use of hypnosis for sedation and analgesia purposes in the emergency department. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a two-center study. The total number of participants recruited into the study was 384. A questionnaire including socio-demographic features, sources of information, knowledge and beliefs about hypnosis, and attitudes of participants toward the use of hypnosis in the emergency department in different clinical scenarios was used. Overall results of total study sample and differences between various sub-groups were evaluated. Results: Mean age of participants was 34.27 years. Two hundred and sixteen (56.3%) participants were male. Television was the source of information with the highest effect on the knowledge of participants about hypnosis. Participants were seen to mostly believe myths about hypnosis. They preferred hypnosis only in the case of the existence or possibility of drug dependence (mean ± standart deviation=3.78±1.979). Conclusion: Participants were mostly misled by improper sources of information so they were seen to be reluctant to prefer hypnosis in all clinical scenarios other than the existence or possibility of drug dependence