Brief nurse-led mindfulness breathing exercises reduce stress and improve quality of life in heart failure: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Psychological distress severely impacts self-care and health-related quality of life in heart failure patients. Brief nurse-led mindfulness breathing exercises offer a promising, low-cost intervention, yet clinical evidence regarding their effect sizes in low-resource settings remains scarce. This study examined the effects of a mindfulness breathing exercise program on perceived stress and heart failure-specific quality of life. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design was utilized involving 32 heart failure patients allocated into intervention (n=16) and control (n=16) groups. The intervention group performed independent mindfulness breathing exercises three times weekly for four weeks, guided by standardized instructions and logbooks. The control group received standard care. Researchers measured outcomes using the Perceived Stress Scale-10 and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Data analysis employed the Wilcoxon Signed Rank and Mann–Whitney U tests, incorporating effect size calculations. Post-intervention analysis revealed significant between-group differences. The intervention group demonstrated substantial reductions in stress levels (p = 0.001, r = 0.58) and significant improvements in quality of life (p < 0.001, r = 0.63), yielding large effect sizes. Notably, zero participants in the intervention group remained in the high-stress or poor quality-of-life categories. The control group exhibited no significant improvements in either outcome. Mindfulness breathing exercises constitute a feasible, non-invasive, and highly effective nursing intervention for mitigating psychological distress in heart failure patients. Integrating brief mindfulness practices into routine cardiac care significantly enhances patient well-being, particularly within resource-limited clinical environments.