Effect of Autogenic Training for Stress Response: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of autogenic training on stress responses through a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted using eight core electronic databases (Embase, CENTRAL, Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, DBpia, KISS, and RISS). To estimate the effect size, a meta-analysis of the studies was performed using RevMan 5.3.5 program. RESULTS: A total 21 studies out of 950 studies were included in the review, and 11 were included for meta-analysis. These studies showed that autogenic training decreased anxiety and depression, and increased the high frequency of heart rate variability. Calculations to understand the effect of autogenic training on anxiety, through a meta-analysis, observed a reduction effect of anxiety score by 1.37 points (n=85, SMD=−1.37: 95% CI −2.07 to −0.67), in the studies on short-term intervention targeting healthy adults. On the other hand, similar calculations to understand the effect of autogenic training on depression observed, a reduction effect on the depression score by 0.29 point (n=327, SMD=−0.29: 95% CI −0.50 to −0.07), in the studies on long term intervention targeting the patient group. CONCLUSION: Autogenic training is effective for adults' stress management, and nurses will be able to effectively perform autogenic training programs for workers' stress relief at the workplace.