Effects of automated electronic massage chairs on autonomic control in non-hypertensive adults

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of automated electronic massage chairs (AEMC) on heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and heart rate variability (HRV) after a single-dose treatment session, compared to a control group. Thirteen participants (age: 46.8 ± 4.6 years) completed two treatment protocols: (1) a 20- min single session of AEMC treatment to the back, neck, and shoulders, and (2) a 20-min single relaxation session control condition. HR, BP and HRV were recorded pretreatment and at 5,15, and 30-mins post-treatment for both conditions. HR, BP and HRV data was analyzed using repeated measures MANOVA, and a Bonferroni post hoc test with significance set at p 0.05. EKG was analyzed for HRV for both time and frequency domains. A main effect of time was observed for HR and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in both groups from pre-treatment through 30-min post-treatment (P 0.05); no main effect of condition was observed. None of the measures for HRV were significant and no main effect of condition observed (P 0.05). In conclusion, both the AEMC and control condition protocols elicited similar acute reductions in HR and MAP, and occurred in the absence of changes in autonomic control between conditions.