Vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) is a treatment method that uses sinusoidal low-frequency sound and music. The purpose of this narrative review is to describe the effects of VAT on motor function in people with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) according to study design as well as providing information about the age of the participants, measurement tools, and sound frequencies that were used. The systematic search strategy based on the first two steps of a standard evidence-based approach were used: (1) formulation of a search question and (2) structured documented search including assessment of the relevance of abstracts and full texts to the search question and inclusion criteria. Out of 823 results of the search in 13 scholarly databases and 2 grey literature sources, 7 papers were relevant. Most of the relevant studies in children and adults presented significant improvement of motor function. According to the study design, only five experimental studies and two randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies were available. In the discussion, findings of this review are compared to other related methods that use mechanical vibrations without music. The authors recommend continuing to research the effects of VAT on motor function and spasticity in adolescents and young adults with spastic CP.

Background: Vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) uses low-frequency sound, often combined with listening to music, for therapeutic purposes. However, the impact of low-frequency vibration (LFV) on physiological functions and subjective perception is relatively unknown. Methods: We conducted a randomized cross-over study with the aim of comparing the effect of constant LFV of 40 Hz, its amplitude modulation, and the placebo condition on heart rate variability (HRV), stress perception (measured by visual analogue scales for stress) and mood (measured by UWIST Mood Adjective Check List). Results: Research experiments with various interventions (constant LFV with sound of nature (river in forest), amplitude modulation of the same LFV with sounds of nature and sounds of nature without LFV) were realised involving 24 participants. It was found there was an effect on HRV, stress perception and mood after the interventions. However, there were only seldomly experienced, and mostly nonsignificant, differences between the intervention conditions, so the effects may be attributed to factors other than LFV. Conclusions: Large scale experimental studies are needed to verify the preliminary findings and to explore various coinciding factors that may have influenced the results of this study, e.g., type of autonomic nervous system. We propose that the effect of LFV exposure may differ when combined with listening to music, and this hypothesis should be investigated in future studies.

BackgroundLow frequency sound (LFS, combined with music listening) is applied by practitioners in vibroacoustic therapy who report a positive effect of this intervention on acute stress response. However, there is a lack of research on this topic and studies with mainly objective measurements are scarce.Materials and methodsIn this pilot double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial we used a multimodal approach to measurement of acute stress response in 54 international university students attending a university summer school in Olomouc, the Czech Republic who were individually randomized into a group receiving LFS vibration and a control group. In both groups, the acute stress response was measured by heart rate variability (HRV), visual analogue scales (VAS) for stress and muscle relaxation.ResultsDifferences were found in pre-test post-test measures, however, between groups differences occurred only for HRV, with statistically significant improvement in the experimental group (parameter LF/HF and pNN50).ConclusionVibroacoustic therapy has the potential to contribute to the stress management of university students. Further research is needed to explore the effect of LFS on stress response, especially when applied without additional music listening.

Vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) is a modern therapeutic approach that combines low-frequency sound vibrations with listening to music. One of the new technologies developed for VAT is Vibrobed, a vibrating bed intended for rehabilitation. The aim of the present pilot study with mixed methods research design is to explore the impact of a Vibrobed course using an original listening program called The Elements 2019 on the subjective experience of study participants, specifically on their physical perception, emotions and mental associations. The study involved 30 university students who underwent three sessions on the Vibrobed. The research data were obtained through a newly-designed questionnaire (processed by means of descriptive statistics and paired t-test) and through qualitative interviews (processed by means of inductive content analysis). The study results seem to indicate that a session on the Vibrobed may increase the level of perceived physical well-being and relaxation, and that it has potential for psychosomatic regulation of the human body. This could be utilized in coping with acute stress and has a positive influence on the quality of life of students in various educational institutions, for instance in the form of preventive programmes at universities. Due to the limitations of the current study, however, it is yet necessary to verify the potential use of the vibroacoustic program through further research, ideally using an experimental design.

No abstract