The Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on the Lowering of Blood Pressure Levels in Individuals with Essential Hypertension-Who are Employed in Industrial Settings

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effec.t of progressive muscle relaxation on the lowering of blood pressure in individuals with essential hypertension who were employed in a potentially stress provoking environment (industrial setting). Subjects were attained from two factories located in the southeast. Subjects from Factory A were assigned to the experimental group (n = 9) and.subjects from Factory B were assigned to the control group (~ = 2). Baseline blood pressures were obtained on subjects from both groups. The experimental group received progressive muscle relaxation sessions twice a week for five weeks while the control group did not receive any relaxation training during the five.week period. Blood pressure readings were obtained once a·week from subjects in both the experimental and control group throughout the five week period. A two-way Analysis of Variance, using repeated measures, was used to determine if there was a significant differe~ce in the blood pressure levels of subjects between the groups. No significant difference was found (p = .80). This suggests that practicing progressive muscle relaxation has little or no effect on lowering blood. pressures •. This finding provides descriptive data which implies that progressive muscle relaxation does not significantly lower blood pressure in industrial employees with essential hypertension.