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Effects of biofeedback-assisted deep muscle relaxation training on blood glucose levels in female adolescents with type I diabetes
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of biofeedback-assisted deep muscle relaxation on blood glucose levels in four adolescent females with Type I diabetes, using a multiple baseline across subjects design. A powerful incentive system was devised to provide both immediate and delayed rewards to subjects, so as to maximize compliance with all components of the program. No significant changes related to relaxation training were found in average daily blood glucose measures, daily fasting blood glucose, or in laboratory tests of blood glucose control (glycosylated hemoglobin tests) obtained at 6-week intervals. Results failed to support the hypothesis that deep muscle relaxation is an effective means of reducing or stabilizing blood glucose in Type I diabetic patients. However, failure to find an effect may also reflect the influence of extraneous factors that are extremely difficult to control in this population, such as subjects, adherence to dietary restrictions. The effect of the procedure may be too subtle to detect among various other sources of error. It is also possible that subjects did not adequately acquire or practice the relaxation technique, or that the response to the procedure is highly idiosyncratic, so that the small sample used in this investigation did not include responders. More stringent controls on subjects' behavior and more precise and frequent measurement of physiological variables are needed to address the question more definitively.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Mann, Leesa H, "Effects of biofeedback-assisted deep muscle relaxation training on blood glucose levels in female adolescents with type I diabetes" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9207432.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9207432