Meditation smartphone application effects on prehypertensive adults' blood pressure: Dose-response feasibility trial (original) (raw)
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The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of a 3 week mindfulness inspired protocol, delivered by an Android application for smartphones, in reducing stress in the adult population. By using a controlled pragmatic trial, a self-help intervention group of meditators was compared with a typical control group listening to relaxing music and a waiting list group. The final sample included 56 Italian workers as participants, block randomized to the three conditions. The self-reported level of perceived stress was assessed at the beginning and at the end of the protocol. Participants were also instructed to track their heart rate before and after each session. The results did not show any significant differences between groups, but both self-help intervention groups demonstrated an improvement in coping with stress. Nevertheless, meditators and music listeners reported a significant decrease in average heartbeats per minute after each session. Furthermore, both groups perceived a moderate but significant change in stress reduction perceptions, even if with some peculiarities. Limitations and opportunities related to the meditation protocol supported by the mobile application to reduce stress are discussed.
Medicines, 2015
Background: With the increasing availability of Smartphones and wearable tracking devices, it is now feasible and affordable to apply such mobile devices to delivering mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and intermittent fasting (IF) to lower blood pressure, as traditional MBSR and IF incur the burden of commuting to the intervention sites for the patients. Our study will develop and scientifically evaluate an MBSR app, an IF app and an MBSR + IF app in terms of their effectiveness for lowering blood pressure. We will further explore the possible interaction effect (synergistic effect) between MBSR and IF intervention: will improved mindfulness enhance patients' adherence to the IF protocol? Methods: We will develop an MBSR app, an IF app, and an MBSR+IF app. We will then conduct an 8-week randomized controlled trial with a factorial design to evaluate the efficacy of these new apps, especially the interaction effect between MBSR and IF. Eligible individuals will be randomly assigned to Group 1 (MBSR app), Group 2 (IF app), Group 3
2020
BACKGROUND Smartphone ownership is ubiquitous among US adults, making the delivery of health interventions via a mobile application (i.e., mHealth) attractive to many researchers and clinicians. Meditation interventions have become popular and have been delivered to study participants via mobile applications to improve a range of health outcomes in both healthy adults and those with chronic disease. However, these meditation mHealth interventions have been limited by a lack of high-quality control groups. More specifically, these studies have lacked consistency in their use of active, time-, and attention-matched control groups. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to beta-test a novel health education podcast control condition delivered via a smartphone application that would be a strong comparator to be used in future studies of application-based meditation interventions. METHODS Myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) cancer patients were recruited nationally via internet-based stra...
Mindfulness-Based Mobile Applications: Literature Review and Analysis of Current Features
JMIR mhealth and uhealth, 2013
Interest in mindfulness has increased exponentially, particularly in the fields of psychology and medicine. The trait or state of mindfulness is significantly related to several indicators of psychological health, and mindfulness-based therapies are effective at preventing and treating many chronic diseases. Interest in mobile applications for health promotion and disease self-management is also growing. Despite the explosion of interest, research on both the design and potential uses of mindfulness-based mobile applications (MBMAs) is scarce. Our main objective was to study the features and functionalities of current MBMAs and compare them to current evidence-based literature in the health and clinical setting. We searched online vendor markets, scientific journal databases, and grey literature related to MBMAs. We included mobile applications that featured a mindfulness-based component related to training or daily practice of mindfulness techniques. We excluded opinion-based articles from the literature. The literature search resulted in 11 eligible matches, two of which completely met our selection criteria-a pilot study designed to evaluate the feasibility of a MBMA to train the practice of "walking meditation," and an exploratory study of an application consisting of mood reporting scales and mindfulness-based mobile therapies. The online market search eventually analyzed 50 available MBMAs. Of these, 8% (4/50) did not work, thus we only gathered information about language, downloads, or prices. The most common operating system was Android. Of the analyzed apps, 30% (15/50) have both a free and paid version. MBMAs were devoted to daily meditation practice (27/46, 59%), mindfulness training (6/46, 13%), assessments or tests (5/46, 11%), attention focus (4/46, 9%), and mixed objectives (4/46, 9%). We found 108 different resources, of which the most used were reminders, alarms, or bells (21/108, 19.4%), statistics tools (17/108, 15.7%), audio tracks (15/108, 13.9%), and educational texts (11/108, 10.2%). Daily, weekly, monthly statistics, or reports were provided by 37% (17/46) of the apps. 28% (13/46) of them permitted access to a social network. No information about sensors was available. The analyzed applications seemed not to use any external sensor. English was the only language of 78% (39/50) of the apps, and only 8% (4/50) provided information in Spanish. 20% (9/46) of the apps have interfaces that are difficult to use. No specific apps exist for professionals or, at least, for both profiles (users and professionals). We did not find any evaluations of health outcomes resulting from the use of MBMAs. While a wide selection of MBMAs seem to be available to interested people, this study still shows an almost complete lack of evidence supporting the usefulness of those applications. We found no randomized clinical trials evaluating the impact of these applications on mindfulness training or health indicators, and the potential for mobile mindfulness applications remains largely unexplored.
Hypertension self-control with a portable feedback unit or meditation-relaxation
Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, 1978
Thirty borderline essential hypertensives were randomly assigned to a portable constant-cuff blood pressure feedback technique or meditationrelaxation. Each technique was taught in the laboratory, then practiced twice daily at home for four weeks. Subjects mailed daily records of their progress. Seven feedback and ten meditation-relaxation subjects completed the program. Both techniques produced significant systolic and diastolic reductions within practice sessions and diastolic reductions over weeks of training. Neither technique improved reductions nor reduced initial systolic pressure levels over the four weeks. Differences between biofeedback and meditation-relaxation in within-session pressure reductions were not significant.
JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2019
Background: College students experience high levels of stress. Mindfulness meditation delivered via a mobile app may be an appealing, efficacious way to reduce stress in college students. Objective: We aimed to test the initial efficacy and sustained effects of an 8-week mindfulness meditation mobile app-Calm-compared to a wait-list control on stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion in college students with elevated stress. We also explored the intervention's effect on health behaviors (ie, sleep disturbance, alcohol consumption [binge drinking], physical activity, and healthy eating [fruit and vegetable consumption]) and the feasibility and acceptability of the app. Methods: This study was a randomized, wait-list, control trial with assessments at baseline, postintervention (8 weeks), and at follow-up (12 weeks). Participants were eligible if they were current full-time undergraduate students and (1) at least 18 years of age, (2) scored ≥14 points on the Perceived Stress Scale, (3) owned a smartphone, (4) were willing to download the Calm app, (5) were willing to be randomized, and (7) were able to read and understand English. Participants were asked to meditate using Calm at least 10 minutes per day. A P value ≤.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 88 participants were included in the analysis. The mean age (SD) was 20.41 (2.31) years for the intervention group and 21.85 (6.3) years for the control group. There were significant differences in all outcomes (stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion) between the intervention and control groups after adjustment for covariates postintervention (all P<.04). These effects persisted at follow-up (all P<.03), except for the nonreacting subscale of mindfulness (P=.08). There was a significant interaction between group and time factors in perceived stress (P=.002), mindfulness (P<.001), and self-compassion (P<.001). Bonferroni posthoc tests showed significant within-group mean differences for perceived stress in the intervention group (P<.001), while there were no significant within-group mean differences in the control group (all P>.19). Similar results were found for mindfulness and self-compassion. Effect sizes ranged from moderate (0.59) to large (1.24) across all outcomes. A significant group×time interaction in models of sleep disturbance was found, but no significant effects were found for other health behaviors. The majority of students in the intervention group reported that Calm was helpful to reduce stress and stated they would use Calm in the future. The majority were satisfied using Calm and likely to recommend it to other college students. The intervention group participated in meditation for an average of 38 minutes/week during the intervention and 20 minutes/week during follow-up.
Current perspectives on the use of meditation to reduce blood pressure
International journal of hypertension, 2012
Meditation techniques are increasingly popular practices that may be useful in preventing or reducing elevated blood pressure. We reviewed landmark studies and recent literature concerning the use of meditation for reducing blood pressure in pre-hypertensive and hypertensive individuals. We sought to highlight underlying assumptions, identify strengths and weaknesses of the research, and suggest avenues for further research, reporting of results, and dissemination of findings. Meditation techniques appear to produce small yet meaningful reductions in blood pressure either as monotherapy or in conjunction with traditional pharmacotherapy. Transcendental meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction may produce clinically significant reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. More randomized clinical trials are necessary before strong recommendations regarding the use of meditation for high BP can be made.
Research Square (Research Square), 2024
Background Hypertension is a global health problem caused due to several lifestyle habits and dietary patterns and associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Studies have reported the effectiveness of Meditation and Yoga combined therapy as an e cient intervention in the treatment of hypertension. Therefore, developing an integrated approach for monitoring this intervention is necessary. This study aimed to develop a structured tool for monitoring Meditation and yoga practices as a complementary therapy for Hypertensive Participants. Objective To design, validate, and conduct a feasibility analysis of the Integrated Approach of Heartfulness Meditation & Yoga Protocol (IAHFNM & YP) for Hypertensive patients. Methods experts were selected to validate the contents of IAHFNM & YP which was designed after a thorough review of meditation and yoga literature. A total of 23 items were included and each item was rated as essential or not essential by the experts, based on which the content validity ratio (CVR), Item-Content Validity Index (I-CVI), and Scale-Content Validity Index Average (S-CVI/Ave) were calculated. Reliability analysis and a pilot study for the feasibility of IAHFNM & YP for Hypertensive patients were also done. Statistical Results All 23 practices exhibited signi cant CVR (≥ 0.29), I-CVI (> 0.79), and S-CVI/Ave (> 0.9), thus the tool was found to have valid contents. The Cronbach's alpha value for the tool was 0.95 which was highly reliable. Feasibility analysis in Hypertensive Participants showed that the tool is reliable and implementable. Conclusion The IAHFNM & YP tool designed for Hypertensive patients is valid, reliable, and feasible. The patients showed a willingness to continue with heartfulness meditation and yoga practices for participation in research for a longer duration. Further studies to con rm the tool's e cacy should be conducted with a large sample size.