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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Nov;61(6):508-516.
doi: 10.1002/1348-9585.12080. Epub 2019 Jul 31.

Restorative yoga for occupational stress among Japanese female nurses working night shift: Randomized crossover trial

Yoko Miyoshi  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Restorative yoga for occupational stress among Japanese female nurses working night shift: Randomized crossover trial

Yoko Miyoshi. J Occup Health. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether restorative yoga is an effective method for relieving occupational stress among female nurses working the night shift in Japan.

Methods: From July 2017 to May 2018, 20 female nurses aged in their 20s to 30s who were working the night shift at a university hospital participated in a randomized crossover trial, consisting of a 1-hour guided group yoga session followed by 4 weeks of at-home practice and 4 weeks of usual stress relief methods. The level of stress was assessed by the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare before and after performing restorative yoga. Descriptive statistics were calculated and data were analyzed by Student's t test, one-way analysis of variance (with repeated measures), or Bonferroni's multiple comparison test.

Results: Vital signs showed no significant differences from before to after the group yoga session, and there was no change of weight after 4 weeks of at-home practice. The mean questionnaire score for "psychological and physical stress reactions" was significantly reduced after the group yoga session. In addition, the mean score was significantly lower after 4 weeks of at-home practice than before or after group yoga, or after 4 weeks of the usual stress relief methods.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that restorative yoga may be effective for alleviating occupational stress among female nurses working the night shift.

Keywords: brief job stress questionnaire; nurse; occupational stress; randomized crossover trial; restorative yoga.

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Conflict of interest statement

Approval of the research protocol: This study was approved by the Tottori University Faculty of Medicine Ethics Committee (approval no.1707B040). Informed consent: This research conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in Brazil 2013). Written informed content was obtained from all participants before enrollment. Registry and registration no. of the study: This clinical trial was registered in the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (R000032811UMIN000028725). Animal studies: N/A. Conflict of interest: The author declares there are no conflicts of interest for this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Outline of the protocol
Figure 2
Figure 2
Study schedule
Figure 3
Figure 3
Usual stress relief methods of the participants
Figure 4
Figure 4
Changes of the BJSQ scores for the psychological and physical stress reactions domains. P values were determined by one‐way analysis of variance (repeated measures) with Bonferroni's correction. Graph shows the mean ± SD (bold lines with bars) and individual scores. ○: Individual scores
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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