Effects of eurythmy therapy on heart rate variability and cardiorespiratory coordination
Organizational Data
- DRKS-ID:
- DRKS00006760
- Recruitment Status:
- Recruiting complete, study complete
- Date of registration in DRKS:
- 2014-10-10
- Last update in DRKS:
- 2017-10-25
- Registration type:
- Retrospective
Acronym/abbreviation of the study
No Entry
URL of the study
No Entry
Brief summary in lay language
In the years 1912-1924 Rudolf Steiner initiated a new movement art called eurythmy. Initially, it was developed as an art form and emerged as a new kind of dance that makes inwardly experienced movements and forces externally visible through appropriate gestures. Such movement is e.g. breathing in and out. The movement of the lungs and chest, rhythmically expand and contract, can be mimicked by the gesture capabilities of the arms, or with the whole body. From the early 1920ies, after the Anthroposophical medicine was developed in collaboration with physicians, eurythmy has also been used therapeutically. Therapeutic effects of eurythmy have been investigated in many different ways and numerous publications on this topic have been published. Still, despite many successful application and experience, the research in this field is still developing. In this study, physiological alterations during eurythmy therapy have been studied by means of the analysis of heart rate variability. Changes in heart rate dynamics can for example be analyzed by spectral analysis of heart rate variability. The aim of this study is to investigate changes of heart rate variability and repiration during eurythmy therapy.
Brief summary in scientific language
Physiological effects of art therapies such as therapeutic speech have already been shown. Speech exercises shapes breathing strongly (rhythm and amplitude). Hence, respiratory sinus arrhythmia occurs indicating direct effects on cardiovascular physiology (including change of heart rhythm or heart rate variability). Here, eurythmy therapy is studied analogously in this study. An essential part of eurythmy therapy is the internally guided movement. The movements may exert direct effects on the cardiovascular physiology. The aim of the study is to investigate changes in heart rate variability during different eurythmy therapy exercises. The study is carried out with healthy subjects. The results are intended to assess the therapeutic impact of this part of eurythmy therapy.
Health condition or problem studied
- Free text:
- Basic study to assess physiologic effects of eurythmy therapy on cardiovascular physiology (heart rate variability) in healthy subjects.
- Healthy volunteers:
- No Entry
Interventions, Observational Groups
- Arm 1:
- Eurythmy exercises 'I think the saying' and 'Migraine B'
- Arm 2:
- Control exercises: Body movements analogously to the eurythmy therapies 'I think the saying' and 'Migraine B' but without special inner aspects
Endpoints
- Primary outcome:
- Alterations of cardiovascular regulation during eurythmy therapy exercises assessed by analysis of heart rate variability.
- Secondary outcome:
- No secondary outcome specified.
Study Design
- Purpose:
- Basic research/physiological study
- Allocation:
- Non-randomized controlled study
- Control:
-
- Active control (effective treatment of control group)
- Phase:
- N/A
- Study type:
- Interventional
- Mechanism of allocation concealment:
- No Entry
- Blinding:
- No
- Assignment:
- Crossover
- Sequence generation:
- No Entry
- Who is blinded:
- No Entry
Recruitment
- Recruitment Status:
- Recruiting complete, study complete
- Reason if recruiting stopped or withdrawn:
- No Entry
Recruitment Locations
- Recruitment countries:
-
- Germany
- Number of study centers:
- Monocenter study
- Recruitment location(s):
-
- Other Universität Witten/Herdecke Witten
Recruitment period and number of participants
- Planned study start date:
- No Entry
- Actual study start date:
- 2007-05-09
- Planned study completion date:
- No Entry
- Actual Study Completion Date:
- 2007-06-04
- Target Sample Size:
- 40
- Final Sample Size:
- 44
Inclusion Criteria
- Sex:
- All
- Minimum Age:
- 18 Years
- Maximum Age:
- 60 Years
- Additional Inclusion Criteria:
- Healthy subjects - especially healthy cardiovascular system - no intake of medicaments - no alcohol before the start of recordings - no caffeine (coffee) before the start of recordings
Exclusion Criteria
- diseases (also chronic diseases like diabetes), especially of the cardiovascular system - intake of caffeine before the start of the recordings - intake of alcohol before the start of the recordings - acute infections - pregnancy
Addresses
Primary Sponsor
- Address:
- Integriertes Begleitstudium Anthroposophische Medizin, Verein zur Förderung von Lehre und Forschung in der Anthroposophischen Medizin, c/o Universität Witten/HerdeckeAlfred-Herrhausen-Str. 5058448 WittenGermany
- Telephone:
- No Entry
- Fax:
- No Entry
- Contact per E-Mail:
- Contact per E-Mail
- URL:
- No Entry
- Investigator Sponsored/Initiated Trial (IST/IIT):
- Yes
Contact for Scientific Queries
- Address:
- Integriertes Begleitstudium Anthroposophische MedizinUniversität Witten/HerdeckePD Dr. Dirk CysarzGerhard-Kienle-Weg 458313 HerdeckeGermany
- Telephone:
- +49 2330 623637
- Fax:
- +49 2330 624061
- Contact per E-Mail:
- Contact per E-Mail
- URL:
- http://www.uni-wh.de/anthroposophische-medizin/
Contact for Public Queries
- Address:
- Integriertes Begleitstudium Anthroposophische MedizinUniversität Witten/HerdeckePD Dr. Dirk CysarzGerhard-Kienle-Weg 458313 HerdeckeGermany
- Telephone:
- +49 2330 623637
- Fax:
- +49 2330 624061
- Contact per E-Mail:
- Contact per E-Mail
- URL:
- http://www.uni-wh.de/anthroposophische-medizin/
Principal Investigator
- Address:
- Integriertes Begleitstudium Anthroposophische MedizinUniversität Witten/HerdeckePD Dr. Dirk CysarzGerhard-Kienle-Weg 458313 HerdeckeGermany
- Telephone:
- +49 2330 623637
- Fax:
- +49 2330 624061
- Contact per E-Mail:
- Contact per E-Mail
- URL:
- http://www.uni-wh.de/anthroposophische-medizin/
Sources of Monetary or Material Support
Institutional budget, no external funding (budget of sponsor/PI)
- Address:
- Integriertes Begleitstudium Anthroposophische Medizin, Verein zur Förderung von Lehre und Forschung in der Anthroposophischen Medizin, c/o Universität Witten/HerdeckeAlfred-Herrhausen-Str. 5058448 WittenGermany
- Telephone:
- No Entry
- Fax:
- No Entry
- Contact per E-Mail:
- Contact per E-Mail
- URL:
- No Entry
Ethics Committee
Address Ethics Committee
- Address:
- Ethik-Kommission der Universität Witten/HerdeckeAlfred-Herrhausen-Str. 5058448 WittenGermany
- Telephone:
- +49-2302-926740
- Fax:
- +49-2302-926739
- Contact per E-Mail:
- Contact per E-Mail
- URL:
- No Entry
Vote of leading Ethics Committee
- Vote of leading Ethics Committee
- Date of ethics committee application:
- 2007-02-22
- Ethics committee number:
- 22/2007
- Vote of the Ethics Committee:
- Approved
- Date of the vote:
- 2007-04-17
Further identification numbers
- Other primary registry ID:
- No Entry
- EudraCT Number:
- No Entry
IPD - Individual Participant Data
- Do you plan to make participant-related data (IPD) available to other researchers in an anonymized form?:
- No Entry
- IPD Sharing Plan:
- No Entry
Study protocol and other study documents
- Study protocols:
- No Entry
- Study abstract:
- No Entry
- Other study documents:
- No Entry
- Background literature:
- No Entry
- Related DRKS studies:
- No Entry
Publication of study results
- Planned publication:
- No Entry
- Publikationen/Studienergebnisse:
- Publication 1: Pubmed-Link
- Date of first publication of study results:
- No Entry
- DRKS entry published for the first time with results:
- No Entry
Basic reporting
- Basic Reporting / Results tables:
- No Entry
- Brief summary of results:
- No Entry