Attitudes and behaviors toward hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility in physiotherapy patients: a cross-sectional study

TL;DR

Physiotherapy patients have limited knowledge about hypnosis and hold misconceptions, with demographic factors weakly influencing their attitudes and hypnotic suggestibility.

Contribution

The study reveals the complex interplay between personal beliefs, demographics, and hypnotic responsiveness in physiotherapy patients.

Findings

75.4% of participants had limited knowledge about hypnosis, and only 3.5% had prior hypnosis experience.

Common concerns included fear (86.2%) and perceived danger (33.3%) associated with hypnosis.

Demographic factors showed weak but significant correlations with attitudes, but not with hypnotic suggestibility.

Abstract

Hypnosis is a focused cognitive state with increased suggestibility and neurophysiological changes, but misconceptions remain despite its clinical value. This study examined physiotherapy patients' beliefs and behaviors about hypnosis, their hypnotic suggestibility levels, and the relationships among these factors.

This cross-sectional study included voluntary adult participants aged 18–70 years who presented to the physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinics. Individuals with psychiatric disorders, cognitive impairment, poor general health, illiteracy, or incomplete data were excluded. Demographic characteristics were recorded, and participants were asked to complete the attitudes and beliefs toward hypnosis scale (VSABTH-T) and the Short Form of the Suggestibility Scale (SSS). The study evaluated participants' attitudes, beliefs, and levels of suggestibility, as well as the relationships among these variables. A significance level of p < 0.05 was accepted for all statistical analyses.

The study analyzed data from 399 participants (65.9% male, 34.1% female) with a mean age of 42.68 ± 16.75 years. 75.4% of participants had limited knowledge, and 3.5% had hypnosis experience. Predominantly expressed concerns regarding hypnotic procedures were 86.2% fear, 61.9% emerging from hypnosis, 51.8% losing control, and 33.3% of the participants defined hypnosis as dangerous. Participants had a mean attitude and behavior score toward hypnosis of 107.21 ± 15.8 and a mean hypnotizability score of 53.29 ± 8.76. Although age, occupation, and income level showed very weak but statistically significant correlations with the total VSABTH-T scores (p = 0.001), there was no correlation with total SSS scores (p > 0.05). Attitudes toward hypnosis and hypnotic suggestibility are significantly affected by age, education, occupation, income, and particularly the level of knowledge about hypnosis (p < 0.05). Total VSABTH-T and SSS scores were not correlated (p = 0.069), although very weak associations were observed between subdimensions (p < 0.05).

Physiotherapy patients demonstrated limited hypnosis knowledge and experience and misconceptions. Demographic factors showed weak associations with attitudes and suggestibility. Findings highlight that personal beliefs and demographics interact complexly in shaping hypnotic responsiveness, emphasizing the need for targeted education to reduce misconceptions.