Study on the Change
in Skin Resistance of a Person Exposed to Stress with and
without the Use of the
QLink pendant
Institute of Environmental Health, University of Vienna
Department of Occupational and Social Hygiene (Head: Prof
Dr.Michael Kundi)
Means of groups A plus B (all exposures) for all 40 test
points and
test conditions. The use of the QLink pendant while exposed
to stress
reduces the number of values which indicate stress and
increases the
number of values within the optimal range.
1. Introduction
The study, the results of which are presented herein, was
carried out by Dr. Reye at Denver, Colorado. The purpose of
the study was to determine to what extent the use of the
QLink pendant has an impact on
changes in skin resistance, which
can be observed during stress. The experiment was carried
out as a pilot study in order to obtain first evidence on
the effectiveness of the
QLink pendant.
2. Material and Methods
A total of 24 adults (10 males and 14 females) were tested,
two of which had to be excluded from the evaluation because
of incomplete data. Three test groups were formed:
Group A: 13 persons, 3 test conditions: baseline
measurement, exposure to an electric facial muscle
stimulator as stress condition with and without the use of
the QLink pendant.
Group B: 5 persons, 3 test conditions: baseline
measurement, exposure to an electric hairdryer as stress
condition with and without the use of the QLink pendant.
Group C: 4 persons, 2 test conditions: baseline
measurement and the QLink pendant without stress condition.
Both devices, the facial muscles stimulator and the
hair-dryer, were switched on and placed in the lap of the
test person. The QLink pendant had not been worn for more
than two minutes before the person was exposed to the
stress. The skin resistance was measured by means of a
Computronix Acupro II, model Z-41. Each series of
measurements included 40 defined points on the skin (20
points on the right side of the body and 20 points on the
left side of the body). These defined points are acupuncture
points and correspond to the testing points along the
acupuncture meridians. The device measures skin resistance
by introduction of a voltage of 1.25 volt and measuring the
current. The device scales the skin resistance in terms of
conductivity. The scale goes from 0 to 100. Values below 50
are considered a sign of "congestion", whereas values above
55 are considered a sign of an "inflamed" condition.. Values
between 50 to 55 are considered balanced.
For statistical evaluation of the differences between the
various test conditions the measured results achieved for
the 40 points were categorised as follows: values below 40,
values ranging from 40 to below 50, values ranging from 50
to below 55, values ranging from 55 to below 65, and values
of 65 and above. For each person and test condition the
number of test points (of 40) within these 5 categories was
determined. Due to the fixed number of test points, four of
these frequencies are sufficient for characterization. With
regard to groups A and A plus B these results were analyzed
by means of a multivariate analysis of variance followed by
Tukey's HSD tests with respect to the differences between
the individual test conditions. Because of the small number
of cases in groups B and C the results of these two groups
were analysed separately for the four categories by means of
univariate analyses of variance.
3. Results
Most test points showed a change in the galvanic skin
response (conductivity of the skin) as compared to the
baseline measurement when exposed to the electric device.
This was true for both groups exposed (A: with facial muscle
stimulator; B: with hair-dryer). If the QLink pendant
is worn at the same time, this leads to a reduction of
conductivity in the direction to the balanced range.
4. Summary
The present study was carried out in order to provide a
first indication of the effects of the QLink pendant on skin
conductivity when exposed to stress caused by various
electric devices. The data of 22 persons were analyzed. 18
of them were either exposed to a facial muscle stimulator or
to a hair-dryer as "source of interference". Four persons
were tested only with regard to the effects of the QLink
pendant without being exposed to any stress. A baseline
measurement at 40 acupuncture points was carried out for
each person. In case of the 18 persons exposed to stress
caused by an electric device a series of measurements was
carried out at the same 40 points with and without the use
of the QLink pendant. As this was a pilot study, neither the
sequence of the tests was varied nor was the study conducted
under single or double blind conditions. This will have to
be done in future studies.
The use of the QLink pendant without exposure to stress
led to an increase in the number of measurements in the
balanced range (scale values 50 to 55). This result,
however, was statistically not significant because of the
small number of cases (only four persons). In case of
exposure to stress caused by an electric device the skin
conductivity was increased at almost all test points. This
increase results in a significant increase in the number of
measurements above the optimal range. The use of the
QLink pendant while exposed to stress reduces the number of
values which indicate excitement of the respective meridians
and increases the number of values within the optimal range.
Download Prof. Michael Kundi's complete study
(PDF):
Study on the Change in Skin
Resistance
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