A systematic review of flotation-restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST)

Figures

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  Fig. 1. Selection process for the papers to include in the review paper

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  Fig. 2. The percentage of flotation-REST studies in different flotation-REST applications across 63 reviewed studies. The following groups were identified: pain (17.5%, 11 studies), athletic performance (12.7%, 8 studies), physiology (12.7%, 8 studies), stress (9.5%, 6 studies), consciousness (7.9%, 6 studies), psychology (11.1%, 7 studies), creativity (7.9%, 5 studies), clinical anxiety (6.3%, 4 studies), sleep (3.2%, 2 studies), smoking cessation (3.2%, 2 studies), and other (6.3%, 4 studies)

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  Fig. 3. Chronological Development of Float Pods: Evolving Applications and Research Focus (1960–2022)

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  Fig. 4. Total number of participants for different types of flotation-REST studies and the percentage of participants in each type of study from the overall 1,838 participants across all 63 reviewed studies

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  Fig. 5. The percentage of experimental designs across the 63 reviewed studies. Four categories of experimental design were identified: (1) randomization (66.7%, 42 studies); (2) pre-test/post-test measurement design (17.5%, 11 studies); (3) semi-structured interviews (11.1%, 7 studies), and (4) other (4.8%, 3 studies). In a randomization design, participants are randomly assigned to an experimental condition. In a pre-test/post-test design, participants complete assessments both before and after the experimental condition. Finally, in a semi-structured interview, participants respond to questions about their experience with the experimental condition

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  Fig. 6. Average number of sessions for different groups of flotation-REST across the 63 reviewed studies. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals

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  Fig. 7. Average duration of sessions for different groups of flotation-REST across 63 reviewed studies. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals

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  Fig. 8. A sunburst plot of treatment delivery (number of sessions and duration per session) for the different applications of flotation-REST (see Fig. 2) across the reviewed studies. Larger slices on the outer ring represent multiple studies that shared the same treatment delivery parameters

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  Fig. 9. Float pod design over time