Effects of Self-massage on Stress and Heart Rate Variability in Middle-aged and Elderly People

• Main Authors: CHIANG, CHENG-YI, 江政儀
• Other Authors: PENG, HSUEN-YING
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/p3v7hb

碩士 === 國立臺北護理健康大學 === 運動保健研究所 === 107 === Background: Excessive stress and poor regulation of autonomic nerves are problems faced by many people in modern times, so health care is necessary. Self-massage has the advantages of simple and easy to learn, easy to operate anytime, anywhere, suitable for the elderly health care methods. Purposes: The study was to investigate the effects of self-massage on stress and heart rate variability in middle-aged and elderly people. Methods: A total of 163 middle-aged and elderly people (69.05 ± 9.70 years old) without massage habits were recruited and divided into experimental group (n=68) and control group (n=95) by intentional sampling method. The experimental group was performed 3 times a week, 15 to 20 minutes each time, for a total of eight weeks of self-massage manipulation, while the control group did not. The two groups completed various test before and after the experiment. Stress was assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale, and the higher the score, the greater the stress. Heart rate variability was measured by the multi-channel physiological signal recorder (TD3), and the SDNN was used as an evaluation index. The higher the value, the better the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Generalized Estimation Equation (GEE), with the significant difference of p < 0.05. Results: After the analysis, the pre-test data of both groups showed homogeneity. After eight weeks of self-massage manipulation, in term of stress assessment, the measured values of the control group were 22.65 points and 22.52 points respectively, while the measured values before and after the experimental group were 21.60 points and 20.49 points respectively. There was no significantly different after GEE analysis (p = 0.071). In terms of heart rate variability, the anterior and posterior measurements of the control group were 22.82 points and 23.52 points respectively, while the measured values before and after the experimental group were 22.00 points and 24.36 points respectively. There was a significant difference after GEE analysis (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The eight weeks self-massage manipulation did not show a significant benefit of the pressure improvement, while it can improve the heart rate variability of middle-aged and elderly.