Manual therapy program induced alterations in autonomic nervous system modulation of students preparing to apply for the universities: One-group, pre- and post-test study

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to appraise the effects of a manual therapy program (MTP) on stress by modulation of autonomic nervous system evaluated by rate heart variability before and after the treatment. METHODS: The study design used was quasi-experimental, pre-post-test of MTP. The sessions were applied during 45 min, twice a week, for 9 weeks. Psychological stress was evaluated using adolescents stress questionnaire (ASQ). Beat-to-beat rate heart frequency (HR, bpm) were recorded in 16 young healthy volunteers (19-20 years old; 8 women) 15 min before and after the first and the last session with S810i - Polar® -Finland in supine position. Descriptors of the Poincare plot and time domain of HR variability (HRV) were analyzed in 5 min (Kubios HRV Analysis Software). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: ANOVA followed Tukey or Bonferroni and t Student tests paired and unpaired tests, considering p