NCT06064474

Effects of High Ventilation Breathwork With Retention (HVBR) on Health

Effects of High Ventilation Breathwork With Retention (HVBR) on Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Randomised Placebo-controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 200 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Sussex · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 39 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The investigators are conducting a randomised-controlled trial comparing high ventilation breathwork with retention (HVBR) to a breathwork placebo (paced breathing at 15breaths/min with brief retentions). The metric of 15b/min aligns with guidance from the British Journal of Nursing, Royal College of Physicians and Johns Hopkins Medicine which state that the average, healthy rate should range from: 12-20, 12-18 and 12-16b/min, respectively. The main questions the study attempts to address are: Does HVBR lead to improved state and trait mental health and wellbeing in a general population adult sample? The study will be conducted entirely online through the research platform Prolific, so participant data will be anonymous. The investigators will collect self-reports of mental health and wellbeing before and after the three-week breathwork period, in addition to a follow-up three weeks later. Pre-post intervention and follow-up questionnaires will be completed online via the survey platform Qualtrics which will be linked to Prolific. Data on self-reported adherence to, and credibility/expectancy of, the breathwork will also be collected, along with participants' experiences to gauge the safety and tolerability of the breathwork protocol.

Conditions

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depressive Symptoms
• Mental Wellbeing
• Positive Affect
• Negative Affect
• Sleep-Related Impairment

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	High ventilation breathwork with retention (HVBR)	Intervention
BEHAVIORAL	Placebo HVBR	Placebo

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-10-13
• Primary completion: 2023-12-11
• Completion: 2023-12-11
• First posted: 2023-10-03
• Last updated: 2023-12-20

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom