AUTHOR=Rodríguez-Aragón Manuel , Barranco-Rodríguez David , de Mora-Martín Marta , Sánchez-Jorge Sandra , Varillas-Delgado David , Valle-Benítez Noelia 

TITLE=The effects of global postural re-education on sleep quality and stress in university women lecturers: a randomized controlled trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1321588

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1321588

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of global postural re-education (GPR) on sleep quality and stress in female health science lecturers.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 24 female university lecturers were allocated in this randomized controlled trial into intervention (<italic>n</italic> = 12) and control (<italic>n</italic> = 12) groups. The intervention group underwent familiarization and training on the therapy to execute an 8-week treatment with GPR. Data collected on sleep quality were analyzed using 24-h accelerometry (Actigraphy GT3X+) in addition to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire score as well as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) anxiety questionnaire. Data on stress were collected by measuring salivary cortisol.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>After comparing the GPR of the groups, there was a main effect of the group (<italic>F</italic> = 5.278, <italic>p</italic> = 0.044) for PSQI. The <italic>post-hoc</italic> analysis revealed that both groups decreased scores between pre- and post-treatment. Additionally, post-treatment, there were differences between groups. For sleep latency, there were main effects of group (<italic>F</italic> = 6.118, <italic>p</italic> = 0.031) and score × group (<italic>F</italic> = 9.343, <italic>p</italic> = 0.011) interactions. The <italic>post-hoc</italic> analysis revealed that treatment groups decreased scores between pre- and post-treatment, and there were differences between groups (all <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.050).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The self-administered GPR improves sleep quality in female university lecturers, providing a valuable self-regulation tool for enhanced sleep quality and enhanced academic performance. Further study may help to develop this as a potential tool to help university lecturers' job performance.</p></sec>