Meditation Smartphone Application Effects on Prehypertensive Adults' Blood Pressure: Dose-Response Feasibility Trial

• Published in: Health psychology Vol. 37; no. 9; pp. 850 - 860
• Main Authors: Adams, Zachary W., Sieverdes, John C., Brunner-Jackson, Brenda, Mueller, Martina, Chandler, Jessica, Diaz, Vanessa, Patel, Sachin, Sox, Luke R., Wilder, Spencer, Treiber, Frank A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01-09-2018
• Subjects: Adherence; Adult; Blood Pressure; Blood Pressure - physiology; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory - methods; Chronic illnesses; Diet; Dissemination; Feasibility; Feasibility Studies; Feedback; Female; Health; Heart rate; Human; Humans; Hypertension; Lifestyles; Male; Meditation; Meditation - methods; Mobile Health; Mobile Phones; Morbidity; Mortality; Prehypertension - physiopathology; Respiration; Resting; Smartphone - statistics & numerical data; Smartphones; Stress Management; essential hypertension; blood pressure; smartphone application; breathing meditation; mobile health
• ISSN: 0278-6133; 1930-7810; 1930-7810
• DOI: 10.1037/hea0000584

Objective: Essential hypertension (EH) is the most common chronic disease in the United States and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Lifestyle interventions (e.g., diet, exercise, stress management) to reduce blood pressure (BP) are often complex with varying effectiveness. Breathing awareness meditation (BAM) is a stress management strategy with encouraging effects on BP, though widespread dissemination is hampered by the lack of an easy-to-use methodology to train and monitor BAM practices. A smartphone application (Tension Tamer [TT]) that implements BAM and tracks adherence has shown promise in addressing these gaps. This 6-month dose-response feasibility trial evaluated effects of the app on BP to further optimize BAM user guidelines. Methods: Sixty-four adults with prehypertension were randomized to complete TT-guided BAM sessions for 5-, 10-, or 15-min intervals twice daily over 6 months. Continuous heart rate readings derived from the phone's video camera via reflective photoplethysmography were used as feedback and as an index of time-stamped adherence. Outcomes (resting BP, HR) were collected at baseline, 1-, 3-, and 6-months. Results: Mixed modeling results showed a significant time effect for systolic BP (SBP) with a dose-response effect at Months 3 and 6. Adherence declined over time and was lowest in the 15-min dose condition, though SBP reductions were maintained. Generally, adherence was negatively associated with dose as the study progressed. Conclusions: Smartphone-implemented BAM appears to reduce SBP and can be a low-cost method to reach large populations.