Yoga for Stress Management in Health Care Personnel

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Yoga; Stress, Psychological; Stress, Physiological
• Interventions: Behavioral: Yoga as stress management; Other: Rest without using any relaxation technique

• Registration Number: NCT01168648
• Lead Sponsor: Karolinska Institutet

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate if yoga can be an effective stress management technique for health care personnel.

Detailed Description

Stress, both job related and personal, is an increasing problem in the health care sector. Yoga is said to have a good stress-reducing effect.

The participants will provide blood, urine, and saliva samples. They will take part in two different stress tests. They will also fill in various qualitative questionnaires, including the Swedish questionnaire on health related quality of life (SWEDQUAL), Antonovsky's sense of coherence scale (KASAM), and the Job stress survey (JSS), both before the study starts and after 3 months of participation.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2003-08
• Primary Completion: 2005-05
• Study Completion: 2005-05
• Status Verified: 2010-07
• Study First Submitted: 2010-07-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2010-07-22
• Last Update Submitted: 2010-07-22
• Study First Posted: 2010-07-23
• Last Update Posted: 2010-07-23

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 71

Inclusion Criteria

• BMI 18-30
• healthy
• work in the health care sector

Exclusion Criteria

• medication, including contraceptives and all medications or topical skin preparations with cortisone in any form (exception: hormone replacement therapy for hypothyroidism were included if their hormone levels were within the normal range)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Yoga as stress management	Yoga as stress management	The intervention consists of following a program of yoga at least three times a week for three months. The yoga program has been designed to reduce stress.
Control group	Rest without using any relaxation technique	The group rests without using any specific program for relaxation at least three times a week for three months.
Yoga as stress management fewer tests	Yoga as stress management	Eight persons participated in the same intervention as the experimental arm but did not undergo the full range of tests because they did not meet all the inclusion criteria for the study, most commonly because of medication use or body mass index.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Reduced cortisol secretion	Three months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Reduced stress measured by qualitative questionnaires (SWEQUAL, JSS, KASAM)	Three months

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Center for Family and Community Medicine, KI; 🇸🇪 Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden