2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

A study on the relationship between interpersonal distance in the sickroom and physiological indices

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21792167
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Fundamental nursing
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	WATANABE Ikue Tohoku University, 大学院・医学系研究科, 助教 (30323124)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2010
Keywords	入院環境 / 病室 / 心拍変動
Research Abstract	We examined the association between interpersonal distance in the sickroom and physiological indices. Twenty healthy men and women participated in this experiment as the patient role. We changed the distance with them and a person who were in the other side of the curtain, and we measured their heart rate variability and blood pressure while they changed their clothes. The results showed that sympathetic nerve activity varied according to interpersonal distance. There was no apparent association between interpersonal distance and their heart rate or blood pressure. It is possible that at the time of smallest interpersonal distance, they felt embarrassed by changing their clothes, and that at the time of biggest one, they were tense by the room being quiet.