Applied tension and blood donation symptoms: the importance of anxiety reduction.

Objective: Despite being a voluntary activity, many blood donors experience anxiety, and fainting (syncope) is not unusual. The muscle-tensing technique applied tension (AT) has been found to be effective in reducing vasovagal symptoms and syncope. A series of studies was developed to investigate the role of AT on anxiety and fainting.

Methods: The mechanisms of AT were examined in the laboratory and the blood donor clinic. In Study 1, 70 participants were assigned randomly to either a control group or an experimental group who learned AT before watching a video depicting blood draws. In Study 2, 667 volunteer blood donors completed similar questionnaires.

Results: In Study 1, a significant Condition × Sex × Needle Fear interaction, F(1, 59) = 4.97, p = .03, indicated that AT reduced vasovagal symptoms in higher-fear women. Study 2 also found a significant Condition × Sex × Needle Fear effect on vasovagal symptoms, F(2, 653) = 3.95, p = .02, indicating that AT reduced symptoms but primarily among women with more pronounced fear of needles.

Conclusions: Analysis of the physiological data and self-reported anxiety supports the conclusion that the reduction in vasovagal symptoms was due more to decreased anxiety rather than exercise-related cardiovascular change. These results suggest that AT may provide a useful means of coping with invasive medical procedures in part by reducing anxiety.