Effects of Whole-Body Vibrotherapy on Selected Parameters of Body Composition and Subjectively Perceived Quality of Life in Young Women

Abstract

Introduction: Overweightness and obesity are a very worrying and growing health problem. Medical science is increasingly looking for effective ways to combat the effects of the disease, not only at the level of physical health, but also in other dimensions of human health, such as mental health and social function. A promising form of therapy in this area is vibration therapy.Research objectives: The aim of the work was to evaluate the influence of whole-body vibrotherapy on selected parameters of body composition and subjectively perceived quality of life in young women.Materials and methods: The research was a pilot study. The study involved 22 women. Before and after 30 minutes of daily vibrotherapeutic treatment for a period of 4 weeks, body composition was measured with the Tanita analyser, which uses innovative electric bioimpedance technology (BIA). In addition, the participants completed the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire on quality of life assessment before and after a series of vibrotherapy sessions.Results: After a series of systemic vibrotherapies, lower average body mass index, fat %, fat mass, BMI, VFR, FFM and BMR values of the women studied were achieved than before the series. The decrease in indicators was shown to be associated with vibrotherapy, as the study group included healthy, untrained and non-dietary women. Of particular significance is the decrease in BMI and VFR, which was important in view of the short investigation period. The TBW and TBW rates increased slightly, which can also be classified as positive effects of the therapy. The subjective assessment of quality of life was not significantly changed in the study group, apart from the area of well-being, which showed a slight improvement in 54% (12 women in the 22-person group).Conclusion: Oscillatory-cycloidal vibrotherapy can be an effective tool to normalise the level of body composition parameters and to combat obesity. The positive effect of vibrotherapy on subjectively perceived quality of life among the subjects is also indicated.