Medicina

THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE Volume 9, Number 3, 2003, pp. 355–369 © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Impact of a Workplace Stress Reduction Program on Blood Pressure and Emotional Health in Hypertensive Employees
ROLLIN MC CRATY, Ph.D., MIKE ATKINSON, and DANA TOMASINO, B.A.

ABSTRACT Objectives: This study examined the impact of a workplace-based stress management programon blood pressure (BP), emotional health, and workplace-related measures in hypertensive employees of a global information technology company. Design: Thirty-eight (38) employees with hypertension were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received the stress-reduction intervention or a waiting control group that received no intervention during the study period. The treatment groupparticipated in a 16-hour program, which included instruction in positive emotion refocusing and emotional restructuring techniques intended to reduce sympathetic nervous system arousal, stress, and negative affect, increase positive affect, and improve performance. Learning and practice of the techniques was enhanced by heart rate variability feedback, which helped participants learn to self-generatephysiological coherence, a beneficial physiologic mode associated with increased heart rhythm coherence, physiologic entrainment, parasympathetic activity, and vascular resonance. BP, emotional health, and workplace-related measures were assessed before and 3 months after the program. Results: Three months post-intervention, the treatment group exhibited a mean adjusted reduction of 10.6 mm Hg insystolic BP and of 6.3 mm Hg in diastolic BP. The reduction in systolic BP was significant in relation to the control group. The treatment group also demonstrated improvements in emotional health, including significant reductions in stress symptoms, depression, and global psychological distress and significant increases in peacefulness and positive outlook. Reduced systolic BP was correlated withreduced stress symptoms. Furthermore, the trained employees demonstrated significant increases in the work-related scales of workplace satisfaction and value of contribution. Conclusions: Results suggest that a brief workplace stress management intervention can produce clinically significant reductions in BP and improve emotional health among hypertensive employees. Implications are that suchinterventions may produce a healthier and more productive workforce, enhancing performance and reducing losses to the organization resulting from cognitive decline, illness, and premature mortality. INTRODUCTION the world today. In the United States alone, it affects approximately 50 million people, or 1 in 4 adults (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 1997), and current trends suggest that

Hypertension is considered one of the most prominent public health issues faced by

HeartMath Research Center, Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek, CA.

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the number of adults diagnosed with high blood pressure (BP) is increasing (Ayala et al., 2002). High BP is a major risk factor for death and disability related to coronary heart disease, heart attacks,strokes, kidney disease, and vascular complications (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 1997). In addition, high systolic BP has been linked with decreased cognitive performance, memory loss, and the loss of healthy brain tissue (Launer et al., 1995; Swan et al., 1998). Conversely, reducing BP in hypertensive individuals has been found to reduce the risk of death and disability significantly,and is therefore a critically important factor in employee health (Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program Cooperative Group, 1979; Launer et al., 1995; MacMahon et al., 1990; Thijs et al., 1992). There is considerable evidence to suggest that high BP is linked to persistent stress and the way in which people cope (Henry et al., 1986; Linden, 1984; Markovitz et al., 1993; Shapiro, 1996;...