Muller Jasmin, Handlin Linda, Harlén Mikael, Lindmark Ulrika, Ekström Anette
School of Health and Education, University of Skövde, S-541 28, Skövde, Sweden.
School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, S-551 11, Jönköping, Sweden.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2015 Sep 2;15:302. doi: 10.1186/s12906-015-0753-x.
Working people's reduced ability to recover has been proposed as a key factor behind the increase in stress-related health problems. One not yet evidence-based preventive method designed to help employees keep healthy and be less stressed is an armchair with built-in mechanical massage and mental training programmes, This study aimed to evaluate possible effects on employees' experience of levels of "Anxiety", "Stress Susceptibility", "Detachment" and "Social Desirability" when using mechanical massage and mental training programmes, both separately and in combination, during working hours.
Employees from four different workplaces were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: i) Massage and mental training (sitting in the armchair and receiving mechanical massage while listening to the mental training programmes, n=19), ii) Massage (sitting in the armchair and receiving mechanical massage only, n=19), iii) Mental training (sitting in the armchair and listening to the mental training programmes only, n=19), iv) Pause (sitting in the armchair but not receiving mechanical massage or listening to the mental training programmes, n=19), v) Control (not sitting in the armchair at all, n=17). In order to discover how the employees felt about their own health they were asked to respond to statements from the "Swedish Scale of Personality" (SSP), immediately before the randomisation, after four weeks and after eight weeks (end-of-study).
There were no significant differences between the five study groups for any of the traits studied ("Somatic Trait Anxiety", "Psychic Trait Anxiety", "Stress Susceptibility", "Detachment" and "Social Desirability") at any of the occasions. However, the massage group showed a significant decrease in the subscale "Somatic Trait Anxiety" (p=0.032), during the entire study period. Significant decreases in the same subscale were also observed in the pause group between start and week eight (p=0.040) as well as between week four and week eight (p=0.049) and also in the control group between the second and third data collection (p=0.014). The massage and mental training group showed a significant decrease in "Stress Susceptibility" between week four and week eight (p=0.022). The pause group showed a significant increase in the subscale "Detachment" (p=0.044).
There were no significant differences between the five study groups for any of the traits studied. However, when looking at each individual group separately, positive effects in their levels of "Anxiety", "Stress Susceptibility" and "Detachment" could be seen. Although the results from this pilot study indicate some positive effects, mechanical chair massage and mental training programmes used in order to increase employee's ability to recover, needs to be evaluated further as tools to increase the employees ability to recover.
ACTRN12615000020583 , Date of registration: 15/01/2015.
上班族恢复能力下降被认为是与压力相关的健康问题增加的关键因素。一种尚未有循证依据的旨在帮助员工保持健康并减轻压力的预防方法是带有内置机械按摩和心理训练程序的扶手椅。本研究旨在评估员工在工作时间单独或组合使用机械按摩和心理训练程序时，对“焦虑”、“压力易感性”、“超脱”和“社会期望”水平体验的可能影响。
来自四个不同工作场所的员工被随机分配到以下组之一：i）按摩和心理训练组（坐在扶手椅上，在听心理训练程序的同时接受机械按摩，n = 19），ii）按摩组（坐在扶手椅上仅接受机械按摩，n = 19），iii）心理训练组（坐在扶手椅上仅听心理训练程序，n = 19），iv）休息组（坐在扶手椅上但不接受机械按摩或听心理训练程序，n = 19），v）对照组（根本不坐在扶手椅上，n = 17）。为了了解员工对自身健康的感受，在随机分组前、四周后和八周后（研究结束时），要求他们对“瑞典人格量表”（SSP）中的陈述做出回应。
在任何研究场合，五个研究组在所研究的任何特质（“躯体特质焦虑”、“心理特质焦虑”、“压力易感性”、“超脱”和“社会期望”）方面均无显著差异。然而，按摩组在整个研究期间“躯体特质焦虑”子量表有显著下降（p = 0.032）。休息组在开始到第八周之间（p = 0.040）以及第四周和第八周之间（p = 0.049），以及对照组在第二次和第三次数据收集之间（p = 0.014），同一子量表也有显著下降。按摩和心理训练组在第四周和第八周之间“压力易感性”有显著下降（p = 0.022）。休息组“超脱”子量表有显著增加（p = 0.044）。
五个研究组在所研究的任何特质方面均无显著差异。然而，当分别查看每个个体组时，可以看到其在“焦虑”、“压力易感性”和“超脱”水平上有积极影响。尽管这项初步研究的结果表明了一些积极影响，但为提高员工恢复能力而使用的机械椅按摩和心理训练程序，作为提高员工恢复能力的工具，仍需要进一步评估。
ACTRN12615000020583，注册日期：2015年1月15日。
