NCT02916550

Breathing Intervention for Cardiac Anxiety

Anatomical and Psychophysiological Substrates of Interoception

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 12 (actual)
• Sponsor: Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Inc. · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study examines the impact of a breathing training intervention on cardiorespiratory sensations and anxiety in adults with cardiac arrhythmias.

Detailed description

Patients with cardiac arrhythmias develop increased rates of anxiety and depression. Atrial arrhythmias, such as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), and ventricular arrhythmias, such as those with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) are particularly at risk. While ICDs can be life saving, many patients (including those without prior psychiatric illness) develop elevated rates of anxiety and depression, particularly after receiving discharges (shocks) from the device. Treatments involving modulation of the breath have been shown to improve both psychological and cardiac outcomes in patients with AF. Since breathing modulation alters sympathetic balance, this may be a mechanism of the therapeutic effect. This study examines the impact of a breathing training intervention on cardiorespiratory sensations and anxiety in adults with atrial and ventricular cardiac arrhythmias.

Conditions

• Atrial Fibrillation
• Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Breathing exercise	Participants will perform a paced breathing intervention (slow breathing) prompted by pseudorandomized remote reminders (scheduled reminders plus non scheduled reminders), through cellular phone application.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-09-01
• Primary completion: 2021-09-01
• Completion: 2023-05-01
• First posted: 2016-09-27
• Last updated: 2023-10-06

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States