Michael E Hyland, David MG Halpin, Sue Blake, Clare Seamark, Margaret Pinnuck, David Ward, Ben Whalley, Colin J Greaves, Adam L Hawkins, Dave Seamark

A review of the effectiveness of relaxation techniques for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients has shown inconsistent results, but studies have varied in terms of technique and outcome measures. To determine patient preference for different relaxation techniques. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients were presented with six techniques via a DVD and asked to rate the techniques in terms of effectiveness, rank in order of likely use, and comment. Patients differed in the technique preferred and reason for that preference, but the most commonly preferred technique both for effectiveness and ease of use was "thinking of a nice place" followed by progressive relaxation and counting. Familiarity and ease of activity were commonly given reasons for preference. Rather than providing patients with a single technique that they might find difficult to implement, these results suggest that it would be better to give a choice. "Thinking of a nice place" is a popular but under-investigated technique.