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A Short Mindfulness Activity to Reduce Anxiety State of Dissection and Prosection Students Prior to their First Cadaver Based Laboratory Experience
Author(s) -
Albabish William,
Bigg Jessica,
Newton Genevieve S,
Jadeski Lorraine
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.785.2
Subject(s) - anxiety , visual analogue scale , mindfulness , psychology , clinical psychology , physical therapy , dissection (medical) , state trait anxiety inventory , medicine , psychiatry , surgery
Research conducted on medical students had shown that while many students express a positive attitude toward their first cadaveric laboratory experience, some students undergo mental distress in the form of increased anxiety state. Although recent studies have shown that this anxiety diminishes away after the students’ first laboratory experience, the use of better preparatory tools to ease the transition is recommended. The goal of this study was to examine whether a short mindfulness exercise has any positive effect on the increased anxiety state students face prior to their first cadaver‐based laboratory. Moreover, this study also sought to investigate whether there is a difference in pre‐laboratory anxiety state between the dissection and prosection cohorts. A short (<1 minute) voluntary mindfulness exercise was incorporated into the pre‐laboratory sessions of third‐year undergraduate human anatomy students enrolled in the dissection (n=222) and prosection (n=86) laboratories at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada). Self‐reported anxiety state was measured using a validated visual analogue scale (VAS), and a validated 6‐item abbreviated form of the Spielberger state‐trait anxiety inventory survey (6‐STAI). Surveys were administered at various time points (Pre‐mindfulness (VAS and 6‐STAI), Post‐mindfulness (VAS), Post‐Laboratory 1 (VAS and 6‐STAI), Pre‐Laboratory 3 (VAS and 6‐STAI), and Pre‐Laboratory 7 (VAS and 6‐STAI)). A repeated measures ANOVA with a Greenhouse‐Geisser correction determined that mean anxiety state levels reported on the VAS scale showed a statistically significant difference between time points (F(2.439, 556.046) = 119.856, P < 0.0005). Post hoc tests using the Bonferroni correction revealed a statistically significant reduction (P < 0.0005) of students’ anxiety state before and immediately after the mindfulness exercise (34.43 ± 21.68 vs. 27.17 ± 19.94, respectively) as reported on the VAS scales. Both VAS scale and 6‐STAI questionnaire results showed no statistical significance in reported anxiety state between the dissection and prosection cohorts during different time points (P=0.337 and P=0.248 respectively). In conclusion, the results indicate that a short mindfulness exercise is an effective method to reduce pre‐laboratory anxiety state in human anatomy students; moreover, there seems to be no effect on anxiety state levels between dissection and prosection students. Support or Funding Information Sponsoring Society: AAA/AnatomySelf‐reported anxiety state using a validated visual analogue scale (VAS)Self‐reported anxiety state using the validated 6‐item abbreviated form of the Spielberger state‐trait anxiety inventory survey (6‐STAI)