| Title | Effect of a Biofeedback Intervention on Heart Rate Variability in Individuals With Panic Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. | ||
| Author | Herhaus, Benedict; Siepmann, Martin; Kahaly, George J; Conrad, Rupert; Petrowski, Katja | ||
| Journal | Psychosom Med | Publication Year/Month | 2022-Feb-Mar |
| PMID | 34654028 | PMCID | -N/A- |
| Affiliation | 1.From the Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology (Herhaus, Petrowski), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz; Clinic for Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine (Siepmann), University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University Dresden, Dresden; Department of Medicine I (Kahaly), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz; and Department of Psychosomatic Medicine und Psychotherapy (Conrad), University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany. | ||
OBJECTIVE: Some individuals with panic disorder (PD) display reduced heart rate variability (HRV), which may result in an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. Heart rate variability-biofeedback (HRV-BF) training has been shown to improve the modulation of the autonomic activity. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effect of a 4-week HRV-BF intervention in individuals with PD. HRV-BF training improved the modulation of the autonomic activity. Therefore, with this randomized controlled trial, we aimed to investigate the effect of a 4-week HRV-BF intervention in people with PD. METHODS: Thirty-six women and 16 men with PD (mean age = 35.85 [15.60] years) were randomly allocated either to HRV-BF with 0.1-Hz breathing as intervention group or to HRV-Sham-BF as active control group. HRV-BF was performed for 4 weeks, whereas HRV was measured both during a short-term resting condition and during a paced breathing condition before and after intervention. RESULTS: HRV-BF with 0.1-Hz breathing increased HRV and reduced panic symptoms in individuals with PD. HRV-BF with 0.1-Hz breathing demonstrated an increase in the time and frequency domain parameters of HRV during the short-term resting condition (DeltaPost-Pre root mean square successive differences: 5.87 [14.03] milliseconds; DeltaPost-Pre standard deviation of all NN intervals: 11.63 [17.06] milliseconds; DeltaPost-Pre total power: 464.88 [1825.47] milliseconds2; DeltaPost-Pre power in low-frequency range 0.04-0.15 Hz: 312.73 [592.71] milliseconds2), a decrease in the heart rate during the paced breathing condition (DeltaPost-Pre: -5.87 [9.14] beats/min), and a decrease in the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (DeltaPost-Pre: -3.64 [6.30]). There was no intervention effect in the HRV-Sham-BF group. CONCLUSIONS: HRV-BF as a noninvasive and nonpharmacological treatment seems to be an important intervention option to improve reduced HRV and decrease panic symptoms in individuals with PD. Future studies are needed to establish whether these effects translate to reductions in the risk of cardiovascular disease in PD.