Fasciatherapy and Reflexology compared to Hypnosis and Music Therapy in Daily Stress Management

BACKGROUND Patients suffering from stress symptoms due to every-day life who are looking for a non-pharmacological response to their relief expectation are many. Furthermore, early reckoning of the day-to-day stress which may lead to clinical diagnosis is the best way of preventing the stress-related diseases. Among the many alternative medicinal options, there is little evidence that fasciatherapy (Fs) and reflexology (Rf) are effective in this field. PURPOSE assess incidence of fasciatherapy Danis Bois Method (DBM) and of reflexology on patients' stress level in everyday-life, and provide a more informed choice among the numerous mind and body techniques by comparing them with hypnosis (Hp) and music therapy (Mt). SETTINGS Specialized Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) centres for outpatients. PARTICIPANTS 308 individuals (average age = 50.53 SD 14.37, 93 males, 215 females) going to the centres for health care, but free from serious diseases and not heavily medicated respecting the inclusion criteria and providing valid forms. RESEARCH DESIGN Four armed, non-randomized observational pragmatic trial with pretest-posttest repeated measures, on separate samples of natural groups. INTERVENTION According to the centre participants where they used to be treated, they were exposed to a single semi-standardized session of a technique of their choice: Fs, Rf, Hp, Mt. Volunteers had a controlled non-intervention resting (Rt) session. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mean STAI-Y assessing anxiety as reflecting the stress level: MANCOVA and ANCOVA performed with Tukey's HSD. RESULTS MANCOVA indicates a significant reduction of anxiety (p < .01) in each condition, resting included. ANCOVA performance adjusting on stress level in T0 (41.73) and on the mean sumscore of the trait (44.89), Fs (-13.92), Rf (-15.92), and Hp (-15.88) were equally effective on the stress level decrease. Mt (-10.0) and Rt (-6.38) showed the same level of effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest fasciatherapy DBM, hypnosis, and reflexology could be used as non-pharmacological and safe interventions in stress management. Though showing a lesser efficiency, music therapy could be useful in different circumstances.