Heart Rate Variability as a Marker of Distress and Recovery: The Effect of Brief Supportive Expressive Group Therapy With Mindfulness in Cancer Patients
Integrative Cancer Therapies August 18, 2020 MS HyeYoun Park Md,, Sohee Oh PhD, MT Yumi Noh et al.
After a 4-week modified group therapy program combining supportive-expressive therapy and mindfulness, 28 female cancer patients in South Korea showed reduced distress, perceived stress, anger, and sleep disturbance, and increased quality of life. Mindfulness scores did not change significantly. Heart rate variability (HRV) measures, specifically high-frequency (HF) power, increased after treatment and were associated with decreases in anger. The authors propose that HF power may serve as a quantitative biomarker of distress and treatment response.