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Effect of a mindfulness exercise on stress in veterinary students performing surgery
Author(s) -
Stevens Brenda S.,
Royal Kenneth D.,
Ferris Kelli,
Taylor Abigail,
Snyder Amy M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
veterinary surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1532-950X
pISSN - 0161-3499
DOI - 10.1111/vsu.13169
Subject(s) - medicine , mindfulness , mood , percentile , physical therapy , saliva , venipuncture , anesthesia , clinical psychology , statistics , mathematics
Objective To determine students' stress while performing surgery and evaluate the ability of a mindfulness intervention to reduce this stress. Study design Quasi‐experimental design. Sample population Eighteen fourth‐year DVM program students (n = 9 student/group). Methods Utilizing a quasi‐experimental design, students were randomly assigned to a control or treatment group. The treatment group performed a 5‐minute breathing (mindfulness) exercise immediately prior to performing surgery. Each student provided 3 samples of saliva, at time 0, at 10 minutes before surgery, and at 10 minutes after surgery. Students' salivary cortisol and α‐amylase levels were compared between groups. Students' self‐reported mood measures were also correlated to levels of salivary biomarkers. Results Cortisol and α‐amylase levels of students in both groups greatly exceeded normative reference groups (>90th percentile) prior to surgery and diminished to average levels (50th‐60th percentile) after surgery but did not differ between groups at any time point. Immediately prior to surgery when stress values were likely to peak, salivary α‐amylase levels decreased approximately 30 U/L units for students in the treatment group compared with an increase of approximately 10 U/L units for students in the control group. Students in the treatment group reported being more calm (mean [M] 2.67, SD 1.03, d = 0.75) and relaxed (M 2.33, SD 1.51, d = 0.90) than students in the control group (M 3.44, SD 1.01 and M 3.44, SD 0.88, respectively). Conclusion This study provides some evidence that the mindfulness intervention temporarily decreased stress levels and improved students' sense of calmness and relaxation immediately before operating on a live animal. Clinical impact Students who are experiencing less stress may be less likely to commit a medical error and negatively impact animal health. This study, the first of its kind in veterinary surgery, may serve as a model for related future studies.