[Reducing stress levels and anxiety in primary-care physicians through training and practice of a mindfulness meditation technique].
OBJECTIVE
To check the effectiveness of a mindfulness development meditation technique on stress and anxiety in a group of primary-care physicians.


METHODS
Quasi-experimental with pretest/posttest/follow-up measurements in a control group and an experimental group. SITE: University of Almeria.


METHODS
38 primary-care physicians enrolled in a Teaching Aptitude Course (CAP).


METHODS
An experimental group and a control group were formed with 19 participants in each. The experimental group took a psycho-educational meditation program for training and practice in mindfulness.


METHODS
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Strain Questionnaire and the State-Trait Anxiety Questionnaire were used to measure stress and anxiety levels.


RESULTS
A comparative statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney non-parametric U test, finding a significant reduction in all the primary-care physician stress and anxiety variables in the experimental group compared to the control group in pretest-posttest and follow-up tests.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study support the effectiveness of mindfulness development meditation techniques in decreasing stress and anxiety in primary-care physicians. Nevertheless, the study shows various limitations that would have to be corrected in successive studies to bring more validity to the results.
Franco Justo
Clemente
C
Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universidad de Almería, Almería, Spain. cfranco@ual.es
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010820:Physicians; D011320:Primary Health Care; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*