RÉSUMÉ
Objective To explore the effectiveness of the Five Elements Music Therapy(FEMT)in relieving stress in participants with different cultural backgrounds,and to compare the differences between the FEMT and the Western Art Music Therapy(WAMT)in stress relief.Methods This was a comparative pilot randomized pre-post repeated measures study,37 subjects were allocated with 2 dropped out,with an inclusion-ended sample of 35 subjects,23 from Canada and 12 from China.After informed consent,all subjects were randomly assigned to listening to either Five Elements Music or Western Art Music at home for 30 minutes,twice a week for four weeks.Participants were asked to use headphones,measure their pulse rate before and after each session,and fill out five questionnaires,including a background and demographic survey(reporting age,gender,education,cultural background,listening experience).Self-assessment of stress(pre-post after each session),General Hospital Anxiety/Depression Scale(HADS,weekly after 2nd session),Perceived Stress Survey(PSS,weekly after 2nd session),the Music Therapy Intervention Survey(MTIS,pre-post each session).Results ①There was a significant decrease in self-assessed stress scores after the second session in the FEMT compared with the WAMT group(t=-2.057,P=0.046).②In both groups,there was a significant decrease in stress scores pre-post treatment in each group(WAMT t=5.026;FEMT T=7.645,P=0.000).③There was no significant difference between the two groups in post-intervention HADS scores(P>0.05);In the Chinese sample,there was a significant difference in HADS scores after the eighth session in both FEMT and WAMT groups(t=-3.862,P=0.003),and a statistically significant difference in HADS pre-post intervention in the FEMT((t=5.117,P=0.004).There was a significant difference in MTIS pre-post treatment in the WAMT(t=-2.572,P=0.023),but in not the FEMT group(t= 1.331,P=0.207).Conclusion This pilot trial explores a safe and feasible self-administered music therapy approach for stress in two distinct cultural groups,and for the first time provides preliminary comparison and evidence of effectiveness of FEMT and WAMT in alleviating stress and anxiety.Further investigation with bigger randomized samples is needed to elucidate the effects of different kinds of music and cultural groups on stress and anxiety levels.
RÉSUMÉ
With the cooperation of Kurobe City, we conducted a basic survey using the nine classification of constitution and an intervention survey using a constitutional guidance program. The basic survey was conducted by the Kurobe group (Kurobe River alluvial fan spring water drinker n=155, 60.6±10.4 years old) and the non-Kurobe group (normal tap water drinker n=99, 50.7±12.8 living in the Hokuriku region without Kurobe City). A total of three surveys were conducted using the constitution Questionnaire (CCMQ-J). As a result, the Gentleness type, which is usually called the healthy constitution, was clearly higher in the Kurobe group, with 44.6 % in the Kurobe group and 22.5 % in the non-Kurobe group. In the proportion of each biased constitution(Mibyo constitution), the Kurobe group had less Wet-heat type (4.5 % vs 11.8 %), Qi-depression type (5.4 % vs 10.7 %), Yin-deficiency type (7.1 % vs 12.3 %) , and Phlegm-wetness type (5.8 % vs 9.6 %) than the non-Kurobe group. After the basic survey was completed, the Kurobe group was randomly divided into two groups, an intervention group (n=65, 62.3±9.3 years old) and a non-intervention group (n=68, 62.7±9.8 years old), and compared with the non-Kurobe group (control group) (n=80, 51.9±13.6 years old). The survey design was a simple comparative study, and the primary endpoint was a comparative study of changes in constitutional scores before and after intervention. As a result, in the Yang-deficiency type, a significant difference was observed between the intervention group, the non-intervention group and the control group at the first time after the intervention (One-way ANOVA p=0.04). No change was seen in the second survey after the intervention. In the comparison of Phlegm-wetness type between the three groups, there was a tendency in the amount of change in the constitutional score (One-way ANOVA p=0.087). From the above, it was suggested that the constitutional survey can not only grasp the health and the pre-symptomatic state, but also improve the pre-symptomatic by combining the guidance methods according to the constitution.