COMPARING THE EFFECT OF SITTING MEDITATION AND BODY SCAN ON WORKING MEMORY IN HEALTHCARE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS; A SINGLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED TRIAL

W. Yeamrattanakul¹, L. Kuna¹, K. Klangkhong¹, K. Wannasangthong¹, N. Madhe¹, P. Kaewkeaw¹

¹Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Department of Physical Therapy, Hatyai, Thailand

Background: Short-term or working memory are essential for learning of students; including healthcare undergraduate students. Moreover, healthcare undergraduate students have high levels of stress, due to the requirement to learn numerous content, having frequent exams and clinical practice. It is known that stress affects short-term memory. There is now empirical evidence confirming that mindfulness programs are effective in reducing stress and improving short-term memory. The most widely used standard program is the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which consists of sitting meditation, body scan and Hatha Yoga. The evidence-based reports have shown that mindfulness meditation can increase the level of mindfulness, reduce stress and improve short-term memory better than Hatha yoga. However, only a few studies have been found to compare the effects of sitting meditation and body scan.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of brief mindfulness meditation training between sitting meditation and body scan on mindfulness, stress and short-term memory in healthcare undergraduate students.

Methods: This study was a single-blind randomized trial. The participants consisted of 14 healthcare undergraduate students, who were randomly divided into a body scan group of 7 people and a sitting meditation group of 7 people. The participants received a body scan program and sitting meditation program by following the audio clip for 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for a period of 4 weeks. The outcomes were the level of mindfulness, stress and short-term memory, which were measured by Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Perceived Stress Scale 10 (PSS-10), and Automated Operation Span Task (AOSPAN), respectively.

Results: The results showed a statistically significant difference between groups after 4 weeks of training on mindfulness level (p=0.036). There was a statistically significant improvement within the groups of both groups on mindfulness level (p=0.006 and p=0.013) and short-term memory (p=0.001 and p=0.004).

Conclusions: Healthcare undergraduate students who would like to improve their short-term memory can consider either sitting meditation or body scan. Moreover, body scan may be suitable for improvement in the level of mindfulness for the beginner.

Implications: These findings strongly encourage further investigations into the effectiveness of sitting meditation and body scan for improving working memory in healthcare undergraduate students.

Funding acknowledgements: This study was funded by the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.

Keywords:
Body scan
Sitting meditation
Working memory

Topics:
Education
Education: continuing professional development
Education: clinical

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Prince of Songkla University

Committee: Faculty of Medicine

Ethics number: REC.64-436-30-2