Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques use among underserved inpatients in an inner city hospital

• Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques (SMART) are often used by patients.
• All racial groups were found to use more SMART compared to national studies.
• Patients with depression, drug use, and work disability report higher rates of SMART.

SummaryObjectiveLittle is known about the use of Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques (SMART) in racially diverse inpatients. We hope to identify socioeconomic status (SES) factors, health behavior factors, and clinical factors associated with the use of SMART.Design and main outcome measuresWe conducted a secondary analysis of baseline data from 623 hospitalized patients enrolled in the Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) clinical trial. We assessed socio-demographic characteristics and use of SMART. We used bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to test the association of SMART with socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and clinical factors.ResultsA total of 26.6% of participants reported using SMART and 23.6% used mind body techniques. Thirty six percent of work disabled patients, 39% of illicit drug users, and 38% of participants with depressive symptoms used SMART. Patients who both reported illicit drug use and screened positive for depression had significantly increased odds of using SMART [OR = 4.94, 95% CI (1.59, 15.13)]. Compared to non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks [0.55 (0.34–0.87)] and Hispanic/other race individuals [0.40 (0.20–0.76)] were less likely to use SMART.ConclusionsWe found greater utilization of SMART among all racial groups compared to previous national studies. In the inner city inpatient setting, patients with depression, illicit drug use, and work disability reported higher rates of using SMART.