Impact of a Stress Reduction, Meditation, and Mindfulness Program in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Vaisnava Nogueira Cavalcante, Evandro Tinoco Mesquita, Ana Carla Dantas Cavalcanti, Jacqueline Sampaio Dos Santos Miranda, Paola Pugian Jardim, Glaucio Martins Da Silva Bandeira, Lais Marcelle Rufino Guimarães, Isabella Christina Diniz de Lemos Venâncio, Nathalia Manoela Condeixa Correa, Angela Maria Rodrigues Dantas, João Carlos Tress, Ana Catarina Romano, Fabiana Bergamin Muccillo, Marina Einstoss Barbosa Siqueira, Glaucia Cristina Andrade Vieira
Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia October 1, 2023 DOI: 10.36660/abc.20220768 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 38 |
| Population | Patients with chronic heart failure in Brazil |
| Interventions | Stress Reduction Meditation and Mindfulness Program |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 9 |
| Key findings | The stress reduction program significantly reduced perceived stress and improved quality of life, mindfulness, sleep quality, and walking distance in patients with chronic heart failure. |
Abstract
Heart Failure is a significant public health problem leading to a high burden of physical and psychological symptoms despite optimized therapy. To evaluate primarily the impact of a Stress Reduction, Meditation, and Mindfulness Program on stress reduction of patients with Heart Failure. A randomized and controlled clinical trial assessed the effect of a stress reduction program compared to conventional multidisciplinary care in two specialized centers in Brazil. The data collection period took place between April and October 2019. Thirty-eight patients were included and allocated to the intervention or control groups. The intervention took place over 8 weeks. The protocol assessed the scales of perceived stress, depression, quality of life, anxiety, mindfulness, quality of sleep, a 6-minute walk test, and biomarkers analyzed by a blinded team, considering a p-value <0.05 statistically significant. The intervention resulted in a significant reduction in perceived stress from 22.8 ± 4.3 to 14.3 ± 3.8 points in the perceived stress scale-14 items in the intervention group vs. 23.9 ± 4.3 to 25.8 ± 5.4 in the control group (p-value<0.001). A significant improvement in quality of life (p-value=0.013), mindfulness (p-value=0.041), quality of sleep (p-value<0.001), and the 6-minute walk test (p-value=0.004) was also observed in the group under intervention in comparison with the control. The Stress Reduction, Meditation, and Mindfulness Program effectively reduced perceived stress and improved clinical outcomes in patients with chronic Heart Failure.