Critical Reviews™ in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine

ISSN for PRINT: 0896-2960

For Online Access

2000, Volume12

Issue 1

96 pages

Issue price - $163.00

Kate Kerr
Division of Physiotherapy Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

This review is intended to critically evaluate research on relaxation techniques used in physical and rehabilitation medicine.
Literature searches were undertaken using the Medline, Cinahl, Bids/Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. The main criteria for inclusion were randomization into groups and the inclusion of a control condition. However, some original articles and reviews were included.
Studies were categorized generally into "physical" and "nonphysical" approaches to relaxation. Physical approaches included Jacobson's Progressive Relaxation, Mitchell's Simple Physiological Relaxation, Massage, and the Alexander Technique. A section on comparative studies, using Jacobson's Progressive Relaxation as a "gold standard", was also included. Nonphysical approaches included Benson's Relaxation Response and Hatha Yoga.
Outcome measures included heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, galvanic skin response, electromyography, and electroencephelography as physiological indicators of relaxation, and measures of anxiety and depression as psychological indicators of relaxation. Male and female subjects, of a variety of age ranges, who fell into the categories of normal healthy subjects, and patient/client groups with both pathological and psycho-social disorders participated in the trials.
In general, all techniques reviewed demonstrated the potential to reduce both the physiological and psychological indicators of stress, in all subject groups, suggesting increased relaxation. Some studies demonstrated inconsistent findings, which may suggest differential responses between male and female groups, between normal subjects and patient/client groups, and between physiological and psychological responses.
Further research is required to confirm these differential responses.

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