The most effective physical exercise to reduce burnout syndrome in university students

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the most effective physical exercise in reducing burnout syndrome levels in university students. Methods: An experimental study was carried with 2 intervention groups with aerobic and strength exercise and one control group without exercise. Instruments: Maslach Burnout Inventory Students Survey and Heart Rate Variability (HRV): RR mean, SDNN, and RMSSD. Results: In exhaustion there was the greatest percentage of change in the aerobics group with a reduction of 26 %, followed by the strength group (19.5 %). In the cynicism it was the strength group that had the greatest reduction (27%) over the aerobics group (21%). Comparison between groups of aerobics and strength: dimension effectiveness low (d = 0.284, PD = 10.51 %), in exhaustion and cynicism trivial (d = 0.068, PD = 4.83 %; and 0.030, 3.39 %). In HRV three variables with trivial effect size (d = 0.071, 0.85%; 0.177, 5.22% and 0.075, 2.95%). HRV behaved differently: RR mean, the difference was large (d = 0.905, 10.24%), in SDNN it was moderate (d = 0.515, 14.48%), whereas in RMSSD it was small. Conclusions: Aerobic exercises were more effective in reducing levels of exhaustion, while strength exercises reduced levels of the cynicism and effectiveness dimensions