Mind-body practices for patients with cardiac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
John O. Younge, Rinske A. Gotink, Cristina P Baena, Jolien W. Roos‐Hesselink, M G Myriam Hunink
European journal of preventive cardiology November 2015 DOI: 10.1177/2047487314549927 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review and meta-analysis Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with diagnosed cardiac disease |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based stress reduction Transcendental Meditation progressive muscle relaxation stress management |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cardiovascular disease Mind–body Psychosocial risk factors Secondary prevention Systematic review |
| Key findings | Across 11 low-quality randomized trials, mind-body practices showed favorable pooled effect sizes for physical quality of life (0.45), mental quality of life (0.68), depression (0.61), anxiety (0.52), systolic blood pressure (0.48), and diastolic blood pressure (0.36). The authors describe these results as encouraging but conclude that high-quality studies are needed in this field. |
Abstract
Due to new treatment modalities in the last decades, a decline in cardiovascular deaths has been observed. There is an emerging field of secondary prevention and behavioural programmes with increased interest in the use of mind-body practices. Until now, these have not been established in cardiovascular disease treatment programmes. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available evidence on the effectiveness of mind-body practices for patients with diagnosed cardiac disease. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), published in English, reporting mind-body practices for patients with diagnosed cardiac disease. EMBASE, MEDLINE, Pubmed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and PsycINFO were searched up to July 2013. Two reviewers independently identified studies for inclusion and extracted data on study characteristics, outcomes (Quality of Life, anxiety, depression, physical parameters and exercise tolerance) and quality assessment. Standardized effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated comparing the outcomes between the intervention and control group and random effects meta-analysis was conducted. We identified 11 unique RCTs with an overall low quality. The studies evaluated mindfulness-based stress reduction, transcendental meditation, progressive muscle relaxation and stress management. Pooled analyses revealed effect sizes of 0.45 (95%CI 0.20-0.72) for physical quality of life, 0.68 (95%CI 0.10-1.26) for mental quality of life, 0.61 (95%CI 0.23-0.99) for depression, 0.52 (95%CI 0.26-0.78) for anxiety, 0.48 (95%CI 0.27-0.69) for systolic blood pressure and 0.36 (95%CI 0.15-0.57) for diastolic blood pressure. Mind-body practices have encouraging results for patients with cardiac disease. Our review demonstrates the need for high-quality studies in this field.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 20
- Web-Based Mindfulness Intervention in Heart Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial PLoS One December 7, 2015
- Effectiveness of the Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction Program on Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review of Literature Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing August 19, 2018
- Online mindfulness as a promising method to improve exercise capacity in heart disease: 12-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial PLoS One May 9, 2017
- Meditation for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews February 15, 2024
- Effects of a Body-Based Mindfulness Program on Alexithymia, Dispositional Mindfulness, and Distress Symptoms: A Pilot Clinical Trial. Behavioral Sciences January 8, 2025
and 15 more in the library
Cites 12
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine May 1, 2009
- A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations Psychological Medicine November 27, 2009
- Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation on Components of the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects With Coronary Heart Disease Archives of Internal Medicine June 12, 2006
- Blood Pressure Response to Transcendental Meditation: A Meta-analysis American Journal of Hypertension February 29, 2008
and 7 more in the library