{"doi":"10.1111/liv.16007","title":"The <scp>RELAX</scp> randomized controlled trial: Stretching versus meditation for nocturnal muscle cramps","abstract":"BACKGROUND: Muscle cramps are common among persons with cirrhosis and are associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Treatment options are limited. We compared stretching or meditation in a randomized-controlled trial (RCT). PATIENTS: We enrolled 98 patients with a history of >4 muscle cramps in the prior month from 7/22-7/23. We randomized patients 1:1 to stretching versus meditation for 35 days. Our primary outcome was the change in cramp severity measured by the visual analogue scale for cramps (VAS-cramps, scaled 0-10). Secondary outcomes included a patient global impression of change (PGIC), change in sleep quality and global HRQOL measured using the EQ-5D and VAS-global HRQOL. RESULTS: Overall, 48% of patients had cirrhosis, 40% had diabetes, 16% the median age was 63, most were women (67%) and 81% were college educated. Both arms experienced a reduction in cramp severity-a median of 1.44 (.58-2.29) points for stretching and 1.97 (1.01-2.93) points for meditation. These changes were significant changes from baseline (p = .001 for stretching, p < .0001 for meditation) but these changes were equivalent between arms (p = .4). The PGIC was improved: 1.33 (1.02-1.65) for stretching, 1.05 (.70-1.41) for meditation, p-difference .2. Sleep was also improved for both. HRQOL did not change according to the Eq5D; according to the VAS, HRQOL rose for meditation by 6 (.1-11.8) points but not for stretching. More patients recommended stretching than meditation (79.2% vs. 55.3%, p = .02). CONCLUSION: In a randomized trial, stretching and meditation both reduced cramp severity and improved sleep quality and global impression of change. While patients preferred stretching, there was no difference in effect between arms.","journal":"Liver International","year":2024,"id":442610,"datarank":0.34828765813935214,"base_score":2.1972245773362196,"endowment":2.1972245773362196,"self_citation_contribution":0.32958368660043297,"citation_network_contribution":0.01870397153891916,"self_endowment_contribution":0.32958368660043297,"citer_contribution":0.01870397153891916,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":8,"citer_count":3,"citers_with_citation_signal":1,"citers_with_endowment":1,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9452,"is_data_producer":true,"deposit_databanks":{"ClinicalTrials.gov":["NCT05457322"]},"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":700344,"name":"Hirsh D. Trivedi","orcid":"0000-0002-8328-9211","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":298737,"name":"Douglas A. Simonetto","orcid":"0000-0003-4095-8144","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":315167,"name":"Vilas Patwardhan","orcid":"0000-0002-1037-0852","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":767351,"name":"Erin Ospina","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":396282,"name":"Beanna Martinez","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1256369,"name":"Xi Chen","orcid":"0000-0002-0691-882X","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":394916,"name":"Susan Walker","orcid":"0000-0001-9075-4655","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":490106,"name":"Samantha Nikirk","orcid":"0000-0003-2217-2068","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":247306,"name":"Elliot B. Tapper","orcid":"0000-0002-0839-1515","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":20,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:01:20.107161Z","pmid":"38860445","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}