Impact of regular relaxation training and psychosocial working factors on neck-shoulder tension and absenteeism in hospital cleaners.

Occupational stress in hospital cleaners (n = 50), and the effect of relaxation training (n = 25, age matched, randomized), were studied by recording the electrical activity of the upper trapezius muscle at rest and during working conditions at the beginning, middle, and end of a 6-month follow-up period. A short (15-minute) relaxation program was practiced daily at the workplace to provide stress management. The amount of sick leave was counted, and the extent of depression and some psychosocial working factors were screened. Intercorrelations were found between the neck-shoulder tension, psychosocial factors, depression, and the absentee rate. The relaxation training diminished tension in the neck-shoulder region efficiently; nevertheless, the decrease in absenteeism might have been related mainly to the social support offered by the research maneuver itself.

Impact of regular relaxation training on the cardiac autonomic nervous system of hospital cleaners and bank employees.

The work-related strain of 50 female hospital cleaners and 48 female bank employees was recorded during a period of rationalization in the workplace, and the effect of daily relaxation to help the workers cope was tested. The subjects were arranged into age-matched pairs and randomly allocated into intervention and reference groups. The intervention period lasted six months. The relaxation method was brief and easily introduced as an alternative break in the workplace. Each training session lasted 15 min. A microcomputer-based system was used to record heart rate variability in response to quiet breathing, the Valsalva maneuver, deep breathing, and active orthostatic tests. Cardiac reflexes indicated that occupational strain (especially of a mental nature) caused the functioning of the autonomic nervous system to deteriorate. Regular deep relaxation normalized the function and improved the ability to cope.