Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-22-2016

Publication Title

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Department

Geisel School of Medicine

Abstract

A study protocol is presented for the investigation of meditative movement (MM) as a treatment for pulmonary dysfunction in ight attendants (FA) who were exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke while ying before the smoking ban. The study will have three parts, some of which will run concurrently. The rst is a data gathering and screen- ing phase, which will gather data on pulmonary and other aspects of the health of FA, and will also serve to screen participants for the other phases. Second is an exercise selection phase, in which a variety of MM exercises will be taught, over a 16-week period, to a cohort of 20 FA. A subset of these exercises will be selected on the basis of participant feedback on effectiveness and compliance. Third is a 52-week randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a digitally delivered form of the previously selected exercises on a group of 20 FA, as compared with an attention control group. Outcome measures to be used in all three parts of the study include the 6-min walk test as a primary measure, as well as a range of biomarkers, tests, and questionnaires documenting hormonal, cardio-respiratory, autonomic, and affective state.

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00038

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