141st APHA Annual Meeting

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281608
Exploring karaoke as a potential stress reduction strategy in a maintenance intervention of a diabetes prevention program (DPP) for Chinese immigrants

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Ming-Chin Yeh, PhD , Nutrition Program, CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College, Hunter College, New York, NY
Eric Poon, MD , Chinese Community Partnership for Health, New York Downtown Hospital, New York, NY
Ada Wong , Chinese Community Partnership for Health, New York Downtown Hospital, New York, NY
Charles Ho , Chinese Community Partnership for Health, New York Downtown Hospital, New York, NY
Effie Zheng , Nutrition and Food Science, CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY
Judith Wylie-Rosett, EdD, RD , Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Background: Karaoke is a form of interactive entertainment in which people sing along with recorded music using a microphone with a TV. Karaoke has been very popular with Asian communities for decades. Our focus group findings and some anecdotal stories suggest that Chinese immigrants are very receptive to karaoke as a method for relaxation and/or stress reduction. Objective/Purpose: As part of a NIH R34 study, we conducted a brief survey to provide preliminary findings exploring the use of karaoke in perceived relaxation and stress reduction among Chinese immigrants. Methods: Thirty Chinese immigrants who completed an active 6-month DPP program were invited to participate in one karaoke session as part of their follow-up maintenance intervention. Due to scheduling issues, three separate sessions were offered at a local karaoke venue that lasted approximately 1.5 hours each. Participants would sing along with the songs of their choice. Light refreshments, but no alcoholic drinks, were offered. Each participant filled out a one-page survey at the end of the session. Data were entered into an excel sheet and were tallied to provide descriptive findings. Results: Twenty-three participants (9 men and 14 women) attended the karaoke. Of those attended, 70% had participated in a karaoke before. Four questions regarding perceptions of feeling more relaxed, less stressed, less anxious, and developing a stronger bond with team members after the karaoke were assessed using a 5-point liket scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Overwhelming majority (>90%) responded either strongly agree or agree with the four questions. Additionally, stress reduction (87%), hanging out with family/friends (70%), and singing (39%) were the top 3 reasons why they think people go to a karaoke. Discussion/Conclusions: Our findings suggest that karaoke could be a promising strategy for stress reduction among Chinese immigrants. Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the use of karaoke as a potential strategy for stress reduction among Chinese immigrants. List the top three reasons why Chinese immigrants participate in karaoke.

Keywords: Diabetes, Asian Americans

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been a co-investigator of a NIH funded project focusing on diabetes prevention among Chinese immigrants. My research interests are obesity and diabetes prevention in a multi-ethnic populations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.