Meditation interventions among heart failure patients: An integrative review

Abstract

Background: There has been growing interest in meditation techniques as an intervention in chronic disease populations. Little is known of the effect meditation practice has on outcomes among patients with heart failure. Purpose: To identify and examine current literature on meditation interventions on heart failure outcomes. Method: The review utilized methods described by Whittemore and Knafl. Three electronic databases were searched through March 2018. Terms used were “mindfulness OR meditation” and “heart failure” in combination, generating 58 articles after duplicates were removed. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, six studies qualified for review, including four articles with samples from the United States and two with samples from Brazil and Sweden, respectively. Results: Among the six studies in the final sample, the total number of participants was 320 heart failure patients. Interventional design and length varied among the studies, and 20 different dependent variables were identified. This study distinguished four categories of outcome measures with significant findings: psychosocial, biophysical, quality of life and heart failure symptom burden. Compared with controls meditation practice significantly improved depression (p