B27-01 Mindfulness Meditation for Pulmonary Hypertension Program: Acceptability and Feasibility of Technology-Assisted Complementary Health Intervention for Symptom Self-Management

Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe cardiopulmonary disease with pathophysiological abnormalities that result in high symptom burden, psychological distress (anxiety and depression), and difficulties in symptom self-management. A multi-model Mindfulness Meditation for Pulmonary Hypertension (MMPH) has been shown to reduce depression and PH symptoms in 15 community-dwelling adults with PH.1 Evaluation of how participants engage in program activities is critically important for the successful implementation of the program in the real world.2,3 We aimed to describe the acceptability and feasibility of the 8-week MMPH program activities, which include: 1) eight 60-90-minute weekly sessions (2-group synchronous and 6-individual asynchronous), and 2) daily practice via the MMPH app use for at least 20 minutes/day during the study period. The MMPH program’s weekly content covers mindfulness, PH content, and practices (Table 1). Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate MMPH intervention dose delivery (adherence) and acceptability (System Usability Scale Survey), respectively. Data on adherence to each component of MMPH (Zoom, video, and app use) from 15 participants who received the intervention in 2022-2023 were compared to the prescribed guidelines. We conducted qualitative content analysis4 on their daily reflection journals downloaded from the MMPH app data. Of the 39 interested individuals, 15 PH adults with a mean age of 51.73 (±11.92) and a female composition of 93.3% were enrolled. Fourteen participants (93.3%) attended Zoom sessions, and 10 participants (66.7%) attended at least four video-recording sessions. Some participants watched the videos multiple times; however, the frequency of engagement gradually declined. 8 of 15 participants (53%) used the MMPH app, and 6 of 15 (40%) used it for more than 2 weeks. 10 of 15 (66.7%) participants consistently entered their reflections into the app, with an overall frequency ranging from 1 to 35. The mean SUS score was 81.47(±10.21). The most salient qualitative themes that emerged were “perceived benefits of meditation” (20 entries), “awareness and acceptance” (19 entries), “daily life practice and activities” (29 entries), and management of PH symptoms (11 entries). The MMPH intervention program is overall acceptable and moderately feasible for participants. Low metrics for video recording and app engagement were attributed to suboptimal access for Android users, resulting in inaccurate app usage durations and lag/slowness. A sub-analysis among iOS users indicated better feasibility. Additional app modification and future testing are warranted for future implementation research. This abstract is funded by: State UniversCenter for Translational Scientific Institute (CTSI) Pilot Study award, the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), CTSA grant # UL1TR001412.