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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 characterisation. With regard to groups A and A plus B these results were analysed 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 analysed. 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
(To download, right-click on the link, choose 'Save Target (or Link) As,' and save into your computer.)

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