scholarly journals The Physio-Psychological Effect of Forest Therapy Programs on Juvenile Probationers

Author(s):  
Jin Young Jeon ◽  
In Ok Kim ◽  
Poung Sik Yeon ◽  
Won Sop Shin

The study aimed to investigate the psychological and physiological effects of forest therapy programs on adolescents under probation. Fifty probationary teenagers from the Ministry of Gyeonggi Justice Compliance Support Center participated in the study. The study explored the effectiveness of a nonrandomized control group pretest–posttest design forest therapy program. The forest therapy program was conducted for two days and one night for the experimental groups (N = 33), who participated in the forest therapy program, and the control group (N = 17), who received two days of attendance center orders program in the lecture room of the Ministry of Gyeonggi Justice Compliance Support Center. As a result, adolescents under probation who participated in forest therapy programs had a beneficial effect on psychological well-being (K-WBMMS) and HRV’s HF (high frequency) and LF/HF (A ratio of Low Frequency to High Frequency) compared to those who received the general attendance center orders program. These results support that forest therapy programs play a positive role in the psychological and physiological effects of probationary adolescents and can affect the diversity of rehabilitation programs for probationary adolescents.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne W. Y. Chung ◽  
Vincent C. M. Yan ◽  
Hongwei Zhang

Aim.To summarize all relevant trials and critically evaluate the effect of acupuncture on heart rate variability (HRV).Method.This was a systematic review with meta-analysis. Keyword search was conducted in 7 databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Data extraction and risk of bias were done.Results.Fourteen included studies showed a decreasing effect of acupuncture on low frequency (LF) and low frequency to high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) of HRV for nonhealthy subjects and on normalized low frequency (LF norm) for healthy subjects. The overall effect was in favour of the sham/control group for high frequency (HF) in nonhealthy subjects and for normalized high frequency (HF norm) in healthy subjects. Significant decreasing effect on HF and LF/HF ratio of HRV when acupuncture was performed on ST36 among healthy subjects and PC6 among both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, respectively.Discussion.This study partially supports the possible effect of acupuncture in modulating the LF of HRV in both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, while previous review reported that acupuncture did not have any convincing effect on HRV in healthy subjects. More published work is needed in this area to determine if HRV can be an indicator of the therapeutic effect of acupuncture.


Author(s):  
Min Hu ◽  
Fan Du ◽  
Shi Liu

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of electroacupuncture at Zusanli acupoint on the enteric neuropathy in diabetic rats. Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into different groups depending on the total electroacupuncture span and frequency. The expression of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), choline acetyltransferase (CHAT), protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5), and doublecortin was significantly decreased in the diabetic group compared with the control group. Long-term electroacupuncture at Zusanli with either high frequency or low frequency could increase the expression levels of nNOS, CHAT, PGP9.5, and doublecortin, and the increase was greater in the high-frequency group. But no obvious changes were seen in the short-term electroacupuncture groups. These results suggest that electroacupuncture at Zusanli can restore the deficiency of enteric neurons in diabetes partly but a comparative long duration of stimuli (6 weeks) is required. The increase of doublecortin may be involved in this positive process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 658-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching-Hsiang Chen ◽  
Kuo-Sheng Hung ◽  
Yu-Chu Chung ◽  
Mei-Ling Yeh

Background: Stroke, a medical condition that causes physical disability and mental health problems, impacts negatively on quality of life. Post-stroke rehabilitation is critical to restoring quality of life in these patients. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a mind–body interactive qigong intervention on the physical and mental aspects of quality of life, considering bio-physiological and mental covariates in subacute stroke inpatients. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with repeated measures design was used. A total of 68 participants were recruited from the medical and rehabilitation wards at a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan and then randomly assigned either to the Chan-Chuang qigong group, which received standard care plus a 10-day mind–body interactive exercise program, or to the control group, which received standard care only. Data were collected using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Short Form-12, stroke-related neurologic deficit, muscular strength, heart rate variability and fatigue at three time points: pre-intervention, halfway through the intervention (day 5) and on the final day of the intervention (day 10). Results: The results of the mixed-effect model analysis showed that the qigong group had a significantly higher quality of life score at day 10 ( p<0.05) than the control group. Among the covariates, neurologic deficit ( p=0.04), muscle strength ( p=0.04), low frequency to high frequency ratio ( p=0.02) and anxiety ( p=0.04) were significantly associated with changes in quality of life. Conversely, heart rate, heart rate variability (standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, low frequency and high frequency), fatigue and depression were not significantly associated with change in quality of life ( p >0.05). Conclusions: This study supports the potential benefits of a 10-day mind–body interactive exercise (Chan-Chuang qigong) program for subacute stroke inpatients and provides information that may be useful in planning adjunctive rehabilitative care for stroke inpatients.


2015 ◽  
Vol 129 (11) ◽  
pp. 1097-1100 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Ozbay ◽  
C Kahraman ◽  
C Kucur ◽  
N D Namdar ◽  
F Oghan

AbstractObjective:There is evidence for a strong correlation between low bone mineral density and hearing loss. Furthermore, premature hair greying has been associated with low bone mineral density. Hence, this study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the relationship between premature hair greying and hearing impairment.Methods:Fifty patients with premature hair greying (20 women and 30 men), aged under 40 years (mean, 30.1 ± 4.9 years), who had onset of hair greying in their twenties, were recruited, along with 45 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (17 women and 28 men; mean age, 28.7 ± 5.1 years). Each participant was tested with low frequency audiometry at 0.125 to 2 kHz, high frequency audiometry at 4 to 8 kHz, and extended high frequency audiometry at 9 to 20 kHz.Results:Hearing thresholds were similar at all frequencies from 0.25 to 4 kHz (p > 0.05); however, significant hearing loss was observed at all frequencies from 8 to 20 kHz in the premature hair greying group compared with the control group (p < 0.05).Conclusion:Patients with premature hair greying had hearing impairment at extended high frequencies. Premature hair greying may be an important risk factor for hearing loss.


2015 ◽  
Vol 309 (2) ◽  
pp. R109-R118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Du ◽  
Shi Liu

Background electroacupuncture (EA) at acupoint ST-36 (Zusanli) has been used to alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms and improve gastrointestinal motility, but the effects and mechanisms of EA on enteric nervous system (ENS) have scarcely been investigated. SD rats were randomly divided into eight groups: normal control group, diabetes mellitus group (DM), chronic high-frequency EA (C-HEA), chronic low-frequency EA (C-LEA), chronic sham stimulation group (C-SEA), acute high-frequency EA group (A-HEA), acute low-frequency EA group (A-LEA), and diabetic with acute sham stimulation group (A-SEA). The parameters of HEA included a frequency of 100 Hz and an amplitude of 1 mA, while the parameters for LEA were 10 Hz and 1 mA. The expressions of PGP9.5, neuronal nitric oxide synthase neurons, CHAT neurons, glia cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and p-Akt were measured by immunofluorescence or immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR, and Western blotting methods in colon tissues of each rat. The total neurons and the two types of enteric neurons (neuronal nitric oxide synthase and choline acetyl transferase neurons), together with GDNF and p-Akt in the mRNA and protein level were significantly decreased in DM group compared with the normal control group in colon ( P < 0.01). Compared with DM or all other DM with EA groups, the chronic HEA could induce a more significant quantitative increase in the mRNA and protein level of the enteric neurons and GDNF and p-Akt in colon ( P < 0.01). EA with high-frequency and long-term stimuli at acupoint ST-36 can induce regeneration of lost enteric neurons in diabetic rats, and GDNF and PI3K/Akt signal pathway may play an important role in EA-induced regeneration of impaired enteric neurons.


Author(s):  
E.A. Molchanova

An art therapy exercise program is posed in the article. The author has proven the effectiveness of the art therapy program for a person's search for life meanings. Study participants are 59 women aged 18 to 20 years (M=18,63; Std.=0,72), who noticed various manifestations of the state of meaning loss (apathy, emptiness, boredom, etc.). Standardized psychological diagnostic techniques were used in the research. The first psychological diagnostic technique was the test of life-meaning orientations by D. Crumbot and L. Makholik in adaptation of D.A. Leont’ev). This test allows to identify the life guidelines of a person. The second psychological diagnostic technique was the methodology "Scale of psychological well-being" by K. Riff in adaptation of L.V. Zhukovskaya, E.G. Troshikhina. This methodology was used to measure the level of psychological well-being, which was a subjective indicator of the effectiveness of the art therapy program. The empirical base of the study was made up of two groups of respondents. The first group was experimental (E-group, N=25; M=18,50; Std.=0,60), the second one was a control group (С-group, N=22; M=18,76; Std.=0,72). The author used descriptive statistics, difference reliability analysis method (Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon test), correlation analysis by the r-Spearman method. The effectiveness of the developed art therapy program was confirmed for a person's search for life meanings by the results of an empirical research. The indicators of life-meaning orientations and psychological well-being increased, the strength and intensity between both indicators increased because of the strengthening of the creative activity of the person, which contributed to the deep awareness of the participants in the process of their life experience, significant connections with other people and the world in general, fixation on creative images and immersion in personal meanings that filled these creative images.


Author(s):  
Patrick Lau ◽  
Amanda Pitkethly ◽  
Beeto Leung ◽  
Erica Lau ◽  
Jing-Jing Wang

To examine the effects of short messaging service (SMS) frequency and timing on the efficacy of an SMS-intervention for Hong Kong Chinese adolescents, sixty nine students aged between 12 and 16 (mean age 13.75 ± 0.90) were recruited from five schools in Hong Kong. Participants were randomly assigned into one of five groups: high-frequency + self-selected timing (HST), low-frequency + self-selected timing (LST), high-frequency + assigned timing (HAT), low-frequency + assigned timing (LAT) and the control group. The total duration of the intervention was four weeks. No significant intervention effects were detected in adolescent’s PA among the five groups (F = 1.14, p = 0.346). No significant differences were observed in the stage movement among the five groups (χ2 = 6.18, p = 0.627). No significant differences appeared in the exercise benefits, barriers and benefits/barriers differential scores. However, a growth trend in the exercise benefits score in the LST and HAT groups was found in contrast to the downswing in the control group. The exercise barriers score in the HST group showed the largest reduction after intervention. The benefits/barriers differential score in all the intervention groups increased, whereas it decreased in the control group. Although an increase is demonstrated in the high dosage SMS frequency and timing, no significant intervention effects were found among the five groups in PA behavior, stage of change and exercise benefits and barriers among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S852-S852
Author(s):  
Chien-Ning Tseng

Abstract This study evaluated the effectiveness of a combined cognitive training (CT) and physical activity (PA) intervention in improving cognitive function for institutionalized older residents with cognitive impairment. An experimental design with pre/post-test evaluations in a double-blind assessments at three points (baseline, T0; post-treatment, T1; 8-weeks-follow-up, T2), conducted an 8-week-CTPA intervention. Participants (N=134) were recruited from 12 institutions. Centers were randomly assigned into wait-list control, treatment I or treatment II groups. Treatment I group (low frequency) underwent combined 30-minutes sessions of individual-non-computer-based multi-domain CT (twice a week) with 30-minutes-group-chair-based PA (3 times a week). Treatment II group underwent the same protocol as Treatment I group, but with high frequency, 5 days per week for both CT and PA. The primary outcome, Cognitive Assessment Screening Instrument(CASI) total scores showed significant improvement in the treatment I and treatment II groups at T1-T0 and T2-T0, compared to the wait-list control group(10.55±9.60, 12.75±11.64, -8.01±6.61, p=0.000; 8.32±7.81, 11.75±10.19, -7.11±5.78, p=0.000), however there were no significant differences between two treatment groups. In CASI’s nine sub-domains, all the mean difference between groups were also significant at T1-T0 and T2-T0 (all p&lt;0.05). The two treatment groups only significantly differ on CASI-ORIENT domain at T2-T0 (p=0.02). The findings revealed that a combined CT-and-PA intervention have positive immediate (T1-T0) and delayed (T2-T0) effects in cognitive function for older institutional residents with cognition-impairment. The two treatment groups did not show dose-response relationship. Even more, the low frequency intervention was more effective on several domains than high frequency intervention did.


2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Schmitt ◽  
Jean-Pierre Fouillot ◽  
Gérard Nicolet ◽  
Alain Midol

Opuntia ficus indica (OFI) has many physiological effects, but a relationship between OFI and heart-rate variability (HRV) has never been established. The aim of this study was to describe the effects of a diet supplement of OFI on HRV in athletes. The first day, heart rate (HR) was measured at rest in supine (SU) and standing (ST) positions to analyze HRV in 10 athletes, followed by a randomized assignment to an OFI (5) or placebo (5) group. The next day, the athletes repeated the HRV test. One month later the crossover protocol was applied. In OFI, the high-frequency-activity HFSU (1,773 ± 2,927 vs. 5,856 ± 8,326 ms2, p < .05), HFST (295 ± 313 vs. 560 ± 515 ms2, p < .05), and low-frequency LFSU (1,621 ± 1,795 vs. 6,029 ± 9,007 ms2, p < .01) increased. HRSU (66 ± 13 vs. 57 ± 11 beats/min, p < .01) and HRST (87 ± 11 vs. 76 ± 9 beats/min, p < .01) decreased. A diet supplement of OFI increases HF and LF activities and decreases HR.


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