Mind-Body Interventions in Patients With Heart Failure: State of the Science
Moderate EvidenceIn Plain Language
Complementary and alternative medicine are broadly considered mind-body interventions (MBIs) that support physical and mental wellness in patients with heart failure (HF). The aims of this review were to integrate and summarize current evidence from MBIs in patients with HF and to identify gaps for future research. We used PRISMA guideline and conducted a literature search through six databases. Fifteen publications met the criteria, published between 2013 and 2021. This review stipulated that MBIs included yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, reflexology, massage, relaxation, and breathing interventions. The findings emphasized that MBIs could reduce physical and psychological symptoms and improve health outcomes in patients with HF. MBIs had encouraging results for patients with HF on selected physiological and behavioral outcomes. Despite the early state of the evidence in this field, it seems that MBIs will play an essential role in the future for alleviating the symptoms of patients with HF.
Key Findings: what this systematic review found
- ✓Mind-body interventions including yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, reflexology, massage, relaxation, and breathing techniques can reduce physical and psychological symptoms in heart failure patients.
- ✓Mind-body interventions demonstrated encouraging results for improving selected physiological and behavioral outcomes in patients with heart failure.
- ✓Despite limited current evidence, mind-body interventions are expected to play an essential role in future heart failure treatment for alleviating patient symptoms.
What This Means for You
If you have heart failure, reflexology and similar mind-body therapies show promise for reducing symptoms and improving wellbeing, but evidence is still developing so discuss with your doctor before starting.
What This Means for Practitioners
Reflexology is recognized as a legitimate mind-body intervention for heart failure patients with early-stage evidence supporting its role in symptom management—document outcomes to contribute to the growing evidence base.
Common questions about this study
What does this study mean in practice?
If you have heart failure, reflexology and similar mind-body therapies show promise for reducing symptoms and improving wellbeing, but evidence is still developing so discuss with your doctor before starting.
What did this study find?
Mind-body interventions including yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, reflexology, massage, relaxation, and breathing techniques can reduce physical and psychological symptoms in heart failure patients. Mind-body interventions demonstrated encouraging results for improving selected physiological and behavioral outcomes in patients with heart failure. Despite limited current evidence, mind-body interventions are expected to play an essential role in future heart failure treatment for alleviating patient symptoms.
How strong is this evidence?
This is a systematic review and we rate its evidence moderate. It was published in Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society. This study is indexed here for context; it did not test reflexology itself.
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