Introduction: Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) is based on the mind-body interaction, where changes in movement can promote psychological well-being and physical health. This study aimed to assess the effects of DMT on stress-related physiological markers and psychological health outcomes, and to explore whether previous physical activity influenced participants’ responses. Methods: A pre-post experimental design was used with three groups classified by prior activity: previous DMT experience, previous physical exercise, and no prior physical activity. Thirty healthy adults (aged 25-55) participated in an 8-week DMT intervention. Salivary cortisol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, Borg of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scores, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Results: All participants showed significant reductions in cortisol levels ( P < .001), systolic and diastolic blood pressure ( P < .05) and heart rate ( P < .05) at the end of the session. Participants who had previously exercised had significantly lower heart rate values throughout the session ( P < .05). Borg RPE scores fluctuated over time, with week-to-week changes suggesting variable perceived exertion. SWLS scores increased significantly from baseline to post-intervention ( P < .001), with similar trends in all groups. Conclusions: DMT was associated with improvements in both physiological stress markers and life satisfaction, regardless of participants’ prior physical activity levels, and was perceived as a low-to-moderate intensity intervention. These findings could support the use of DMT as a non-pharmacological approach that can be used to improve emotional well-being and cardiovascular regulation in a wide range of situations.

Frailty is a multidimensional syndrome of reduced physiological reserve that is particularly prevalent in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Identifying objective biochemical markers to complement clinical screening tools, such as the FRAIL scale, is an increasingly important unmet need. Periostin, a matricellular protein involved in tissue remodeling, bone metabolism, and chronic complications of diabetes, has emerged as a potential candidate. In this cross-sectional study of 137 adults with type 2 diabetes (65 ± 8 years), participants were classified as robust, pre-frail, or frail according to FRAIL scores. Frailty correlated positively with age (p < 0.001), BMI (p = 0.006), waist circumference (p = 0.01), and diabetes duration (p = 0.040), and negatively with TBS (p = 0.001), HDL-c (p = 0.040), and eGFR (p = 0.009). A stronger positive correlation was observed with serum periostin (p < 0.001). Frail individuals showed higher periostin levels than pre-frail (p = 0.006) and robust participants (p = 0.008), independent of age. Periostin demonstrated moderate discriminatory capacity for frailty status (AUC = 0.710; p < 0.001), while adding periostin to clinical variables resulted in a numerical increase in overall model discrimination (AUC = 0.900 vs. 0.858). A threshold of >1307 pmol/L yielded 77.8% sensitivity and 66.7% specificity. These preliminary findings indicate that periostin is significantly associated with frailty in type 2 diabetes and may represent a complementary biochemical biomarker of frailty status, warranting further validation in longitudinal studies.