Objectives: The effects of Okada Purifying Therapy (OPT), a form of subtle energy (biofield) therapy that originated in Japan, were investigated. Electroencephalograms and the Profile of Mood States scores were measured using a crossover design during OPT and placebo sessions. Participants: Nineteen (19) healthy Japanese adults (mean age -standard deviation: 40.8 -11.2 years; 10 females) with no previous experience of biofield therapy participated in this study. Methods: Each session lasted 15 minutes. A single-blind, randomized design with a protocol consisting of regular cycles with eyes open followed by eyes closed was used. The power spectral value was calculated in h (4.0-7.9 Hz), a (8.0-12.9 Hz), and b (13.0-29.9 Hz) frequency ranges.
Shorter and easier methods of conducting community health surveys would be useful. We conducted a study to demonstrate the responsiveness of the 10-item Mokichi Okada Association quality of life questionnaire (MQL-10) in a follow-up survey and to determine the minimally important difference (MID) for this measure. In 2007, Japanese adults participated in a survey on health prac- tices. We analyzed the MQL-10 scores (n=6365) together with the following factors: gender, age group, disease, reason for participation, and complementary health practices, such as food and eating. The mean baseline MQL-10 score was 26.4±5.83 [standard deviation (SD)] and the mean follow-up score was 27.6±5.45 SD with a mean change of 1.20±4.41 SD. The effect size for change was 0.21 and the standardized response mean was 0.27. The MQL-10 scores in the baseline condition were associated with gender, age group, disease, reason for participation and complementary health practices. Furthermore, the changes in the MQL-10 during the 12 weeks of study were associated with age group, disease, reason for participa- tion and complementary health practices. The increase in frequency of health practices was significantly associated with improvements in the participants’ quality of life (QOL). These results suggest that the MQL-10 is use- ful for assessing the effects of complementary health practices on QOL. The estimate of 3 points for the range of this measure (0-40) was higher than half of the SD of scores; therefore, it was considered reasonable for the MID
Objective:
To investigate whether the frequency of the practice of each of diet, art, and biofield therapy influences improvement in quality of life (QOL), and to examine whether the simultaneous practice of all three components increasingly improves QOL in a real-world setting.
Design:
Pre–post-test design using convenience sampling methods.
Setting:
Home setting.
Subjects:
A total of 4681 individuals aged 16 years or older who answered the questionnaire appropriately.
Intervention:
Participants agreed to practice the three components daily and self-evaluated the frequency of their weekly practice for three consecutive months. At the beginning and end of the study, they completed the MOA quality-of-life questionnaire (10-item MOA quality-of-life questionnaire [MQL-10]).
Outcome measures:
Factors associated with the increase in MQL-10 scores for each component, and the relationship between the simultaneous practice of multiple components and the changes in MQL-10 scores were analyzed.
Results:
Frequent practice of the diet and/or art components was associated with an increase in the term-end MQL-10 score (
p
< 0.001); however, receiving biofield therapy frequently was not. Participants' age, gender, and qualification as a practitioner of biofield therapy had no relationship with changes in scores, but the reasons for participation had a significant influence on changes in scores (
p
< 0.001). Participants who initially did not practice any components frequently but who subsequently increased the number of components and frequency of each practice had a higher likelihood of exhibiting an increase in the term-end score (
p
< 0.01). Participants who initially practiced all three components frequently but later decreased the number of components practiced frequently had a lower chance of increase and a higher risk of decrease in scores (
p
< 0.01).
Conclusions:
The data suggest that the frequent practice of the diet and art components is associated with improvement in QOL. Simultaneous practice of diet, art, and biofield therapy is more likely to improve QOL. (
NCT01927250)
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