Abstract
Background: Caring for a loved one can be rewarding but is also associated with substantial caregiver burden, developing mental outcomes and affecting happiness. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a four-week, 16-h presential meditation program on physiological and psychological parameters and vagal nerve activity in high-burden caregivers, as compared to a control group. Methods: A non-randomized repeated-measures controlled clinical trial was conducted. Results: According to the ANCOVA results, the global happiness score (F = 297.42, p < 0.001) and the scores for all subscales were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group at 5 weeks. Anxiety levels were also significantly reduced in the experimental group (F = 24.92, p < 0.001), systolic (F = 16.23, p < 0.001) and diastolic blood (F = 34.39, p < 0.001) pressures, and the resting heart rate (F = 17.90, p < 0.05). HRV results revealed significant between-group differences in the HRV Index (F = 8.40, p < 0.05), SDNN (F = 13.59, p < 0.05), and RMSSD (F = 10.72, p < 0.05) in the time domain, and HF (F = 4.82 p < 0.05)) in the frequency domain, which were all improved in the experimental group after the meditation program. Conclusions: Meditation can be a useful therapy to enhance the mental health and autonomic nervous system balance of informal caregivers, improving symptoms of physical and mental overload.
Highlights
>50% had completed a higher education, 78.4% were employed, 56.8% were nonsmokers, 60% did not consume alcohol, 70.2% were caring for a relative for >6 years, and 54.1%
The only statistically significant difference in the above variables between the experimental (n = 19) and control (n = 18) groups was in educational level, with higher education being completed by 31.6% of the experimental group versus
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first controlled clinical trial to demonstrate an improvement in the mental health and cardiovascular balance of high-burden informal caregivers after a one-month meditation program of eight 2 h sessions, in comparison to a control group
Summary
The term informal caregivers is applied to family members or close relatives providing partial or full care to dependent individuals with difficulties in self-care, facilitating their well-being and helping them to perform different tasks and activities [1,2]. Caring for a loved one can be rewarding but can be associated with significant caregiver burden. In broad terms, this refers to stress due to caregiving that arises from an interplay among various predisposing factors, including contextual circumstances, direct primary stressors, indirect secondary stressors, and appraisal [3]. The physical health of caregivers can be a predictor of both care burden and depression, given that caregivers with poorer health might perceive a greater burden and be more prone to depression after a long period of caregiving; it is necessary to adjust results for burden and depression, in order to establish their relative impact [4,5,6]
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