Effect of chair yoga on heart rate variability, perceived stress, and sleep quality among nursing professionals from a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Health care professionals that provide treatment to individuals most prone to experience sadness and anxiety are experiencing public health difficulties due to the linked elevated death rate brought on by the COVID epidemic. The purpose of this study was to determine how chair yoga affected nursing professionals' Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic functioning, stress level, and sleep quality index. Materials and Methods: The randomized controlled trial was conducted among 60 Nursing professionals in a tertiary care hospital aged >=23 years for a period of 2 months and they were divided into two groups: control (n=30) and intervention (n=30) groups. A set of chair yoga sessions was taught by a professional yoga trainer to the intervention group for a duration of 20 minutes, 5 days a week for two months. Both groups' sleep quality and HRV were measured using the PHYSIOPAC-PP4 (MEDICAID SYSTEMS, Chandigarh) software, as well as their levels of stress using the Perceived Stress Scale. Results: After training of chair yoga for 2 months, a significant decrease in HR, MAP and a significant increase in Mean RR, SDNN and PNN50 and a significant increase in TP and HFnu and a significant decrease in LFnu and LF/HF ratio in the intervention group was found. After doing chair yoga at work, the intervention group's stress levels dropped and their quality of sleep increased. Conclusion: The findings of the study concluded that the chair yoga practice in Nursing professionals led to the improvement in parasympathetic activity. It is also beneficial for stress reduction and improvement of sleep quality in nursing professionals.