Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2020
The Effect of Mechanical Massage and Mental Training on Heart Rate Variability and Cortisol in Swedish Employees-A Randomized Explorative Pilot Study
Van Dijk, Willeke; Huizink, Anja C.; Muller, Jasmin; Uvnas-Moberg, Kerstin; Ekstrom-Bergstrom, Anette; Handlin, LindaAbstract
Work-related stress is relatively common in modern society and is a major cause of sick-leave. Thus, effective stress reducing interventions are needed. This study examined the effects of mental training and mechanical massage, on employee's heart rate variability (HRV) and plasma cortisol at their workplaces. Moreover, it was investigated whether baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) can explain differences in effectiveness of the intervention. Ninety-three participants from four workplaces were randomly assigned to one of the five programs: (I) Mechanical massage and mental training combined, II) Mechanical massage, III) Mental training, IV) Pause, or V) Control. HRV and plasma cortisol were measured at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks. SBP was measured at baseline. On the reduction of cortisol levels, a small effect of the mechanical massage program was found, whereas no effect was found for the other programs. None of the programs showed any effect on HRV. Nonetheless, when the level of systolic blood pressure was taken into account, some small beneficial effects on HRV and cortisol of mental training and the mechanical massage were found. This exploratory pilot-study provides useful information for future studies that aim to reduce stress among employees.Keywords
stress; mental training; heart rate variability; cortisol; systolic blood pressure; mechanical massagePublished in
Frontiers in Public Health2020, volume: 8, article number: 82
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
Authors' information
Van Dijk, Willeke
Vrije Univ Amsterdam
Huizink, Anja C.
Univ Skovde
Huizink, Anja C.
Vrije Univ Amsterdam
Muller, Jasmin
Univ Skovde
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Environment and Health
Ekstrom-Bergstrom, Anette
Univ West
Handlin, Linda
Univ Skovde
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Health and Occupational Health
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00082
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/105385