Investigation of the Effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy on Core Muscle Endurance, Posture, Balance, Quality of Life and Body Awareness in Earthquake Victims

NCT ID: NCT06959238

Last Updated: 2025-12-31

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-05-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-08-20

Brief Summary

Earthquakes are natural disasters that occur unexpectedly, affecting many people negatively, threatening life and causing serious losses. In our geography where earthquakes are frequently experienced, two earthquakes occurred on February 6, 2023 in the Southeastern part of our country, the first with a magnitude of 7.7 and the second with a magnitude of 7.5. The earthquakes that occurred with Pazarcık/Kahramanmaraş as the epicenter are one of the major earthquakes in our country. It is known that a significant portion of individuals exposed to such large earthquakes are affected mentally and physically. However, although psychological effects have been known for many years, the physical changes that occur due to psychological effects are still being investigated today. Many studies on the subject focus on complaints of dizziness and disturbances in balance following an earthquake. However, it is also possible that different physical effects may develop. The aim of our current project proposal is to examine the effects of basic body awareness therapy on core muscle endurance, posture, balance, quality of life and body awareness in earthquake survivors. Within the scope of our project, 30 earthquake survivors between the ages of 18-45 who experienced the February 6, 2023 earthquake will be included in the study. For all individuals, evaluation of core muscles will be performed with McGill Endurance test, Prone Bridge test and Stabilizer Pressure Biofeedback, posture evaluation with New York Posture Assessment Method (NYPAM) and lateral digital imaging in standing posture, balance evaluation with Balance on One Leg test (eyes open and closed), Functional Forward Reach Test and Y Balance Test, quality of life evaluation with Short Form-36 (SF-36) and body awareness evaluation with Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ). Individuals will be divided into 2 groups by closed envelope randomization method. The first group was determined as the intervention group and the second group as the control group. While Basic Body Awareness Therapy will be applied to the individuals in the intervention group, no application will be made to the individuals in the control group. All assessments will be applied to individuals in both the intervention group and the control group 2 times in total at the beginning of the study and at the end of 8 weeks. Our project, which is foreseen to be completed in 12 months, is planned to be carried out in 16 sessions, 2 days a week, 1 hour a day, for 8 weeks, and to give home exercise 2 days a week, 1 hour a day. The fact that the evaluations to be applied within the scope of the project proposal and the exercise approach to be used have not been applied on earthquake victims before gives our study originality. It has the potential to form the basis for future studies in the field of health related to earthquake victims.

Conditions

Earthquake; Core; Posture; Balance; Quality of Life; Body Awareness

Keywords

Earthquake; core; posture; balance; quality of life; body awareness

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Intervention group: Basic body awareness therapy

Individuals in the intervention group will receive basic body awareness therapy (TBFT).The flow of an exercise session of TBFT is 10 minutes of body scan, 35 minutes of exercises and 15 minutes of feedback. TBFT exercises are performed on the back, sitting and standing with diaphragmatic breathing and the sound "m". The sound "m" is a universal sound and is used during all exercises. In addition, using the sound "m" during the exercises contributes positively to the respiratory functions of the participant as it creates resistance on the diaphragm. Participants catch the rhythm of breathing and movement by making the sound "m". A mat cushion is used for the exercises performed in the supine position, and a fixed stool with a hard surface suitable for the participants' leg length is used for the exercises performed in the sitting position. Exercises performed in the standing position are performed without shoes and on a hard surface.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Temel beden farkındalığı terapisi

Intervention Type: OTHER

Individuals in the TBFT group will receive a total of 16 exercise sessions, with individual exercises 2 days a week for the first 2 weeks and group exercises 2 days a week for the next 6 weeks. The purpose of the individual sessions is to aim for the participant to learn the TBFT exercises and to prepare the participant for the group sessions. In individual sessions, the person learns body scanning and develops awareness about their own body. The participant continues the exercises they learned in the individual session at home. At this stage, the participant is assigned a notebook and is asked to write down their experiences of the exercises they do at home in this notebook. The participant who completes the individual sessions continues with the group sessions. The purpose of the group sessions is to provide interaction within the group and to establish a bond of trust between the individuals in the group with the interaction obtained. The fact that the participants do exercises toge

Control group

Participants in the control group will not receive any intervention.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Temel beden farkındalığı terapisi

Individuals in the TBFT group will receive a total of 16 exercise sessions, with individual exercises 2 days a week for the first 2 weeks and group exercises 2 days a week for the next 6 weeks. The purpose of the individual sessions is to aim for the participant to learn the TBFT exercises and to prepare the participant for the group sessions. In individual sessions, the person learns body scanning and develops awareness about their own body. The participant continues the exercises they learned in the individual session at home. At this stage, the participant is assigned a notebook and is asked to write down their experiences of the exercises they do at home in this notebook. The participant who completes the individual sessions continues with the group sessions. The purpose of the group sessions is to provide interaction within the group and to establish a bond of trust between the individuals in the group with the interaction obtained. The fact that the participants do exercises toge

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Having experienced the earthquake in the provinces affected by the earthquake with the epicenter of February 6, 2023, Pazarcık/Kahramanmaraş, and declared a state of emergency with a level 4 alarm (Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Hatay, Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Kilis, Diyarbakır, Adana)
• Being between the ages of 18-45
• Volunteer to work
• Being able to speak Turkish

Exclusion Criteria

• Refusing to participate in the study at any stage
• Presence of communication problems (vision, hearing and speech disorders)
• Presence of limitation and contracture in the lower extremity
• Having had an amputation
• Polypharmacy and antidepressant use
• Presence of a diagnosed disease related to the psychiatric, neurological and musculoskeletal system.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 45 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Cumhuriyet University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Gazi University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Inonu University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Emine Nacar

Research Assistant

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Sivas Cumhuriyet University

Sivas, Sivas, Turkey (Türkiye)

Countries

Turkey (Türkiye)

Other Identifiers

2024/04-31

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id