TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Yoga and Mindfulness Programs on Self-Compassion in Medical Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2 - An Intervention Study
AU - Miyoshi, Tomoko
AU - Ida, Hiromi
AU - Nishimura, Yoshito
AU - Ako, Soichiro
AU - Otsuka, Fumio
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the OFUJI ENDOCRINE MEDICAL AWARD.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Stress among healthcare workers (HCWs) increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We aimed to determine whether a yoga and mindfulness program could alleviate burnout and other psychological and physical distress in HCWs, and how this might affect their empathy for patients. A weekly one-hour yoga and mindfulness program was conducted for three months in 2021. Participants were 18 consenting HCWs and, the final analysis included 13 participants. They responded to online questionnaires before and after the program. We measured salivary cortisol levels before and after the program on the first and last days. Self-measured pulse rates (PRs) were taken before and after each session, which decreased significantly in both cases (before, after the first program: 72, 65 bpm, p < 0.05; before, after the last program: 75, 66, p < 0.05), but salivary cortisol levels did not change. No significant changes were observed in Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Sense of Coherence, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Self-compassion Scale, or Jefferson Scale of Empathy. However, common humanity, a subscale of self-compassion, increased significantly (before the first program: 5.6, after the last program: 6.5, p < 0.05), and over-identification decreased significantly (7.9, 6.7, p < 0.01). Yoga and mindfulness programs may help improve the sense of common humanity and reduce over-identification in HCWs.
AB - Stress among healthcare workers (HCWs) increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We aimed to determine whether a yoga and mindfulness program could alleviate burnout and other psychological and physical distress in HCWs, and how this might affect their empathy for patients. A weekly one-hour yoga and mindfulness program was conducted for three months in 2021. Participants were 18 consenting HCWs and, the final analysis included 13 participants. They responded to online questionnaires before and after the program. We measured salivary cortisol levels before and after the program on the first and last days. Self-measured pulse rates (PRs) were taken before and after each session, which decreased significantly in both cases (before, after the first program: 72, 65 bpm, p < 0.05; before, after the last program: 75, 66, p < 0.05), but salivary cortisol levels did not change. No significant changes were observed in Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Sense of Coherence, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Self-compassion Scale, or Jefferson Scale of Empathy. However, common humanity, a subscale of self-compassion, increased significantly (before the first program: 5.6, after the last program: 6.5, p < 0.05), and over-identification decreased significantly (7.9, 6.7, p < 0.01). Yoga and mindfulness programs may help improve the sense of common humanity and reduce over-identification in HCWs.
KW - burnout
KW - mindfulness
KW - self-compassion
KW - stress
KW - stress in healthcare workers
KW - the COVID-19 pandemic
KW - yoga
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph191912523
DO - 10.3390/ijerph191912523
M3 - Article
C2 - 36231820
AN - SCOPUS:85139935848
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 19
M1 - 12523
ER -