Abstract
ObjectiveRestorative sleep is associated with increased autonomous parasympathetic nervous system activity that might be improved by heart rate variability-biofeedback (HRV-BF) training. Hence the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a four-week mobile HRV-BF intervention on the sleep quality and HRV of healthy adults.MethodsIn a prospective study, 26 healthy participants (11 females; mean age: 26.04 ± 4.52 years; mean body mass index: 23.76 ± 3.91 kg/m2) performed mobile HRV-BF training with 0.1 Hz breathing over four weeks, while sleep quality, actigraphy and HRV were measured before and after the intervention.ResultsMobile HRV-BF training with 0.1 Hz breathing improved the subjective sleep quality in healthy adults [t(24) = 4.9127, p ≤ 0.001, d = 0.99] as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In addition, mobile HRV-BF training with 0.1 Hz breathing was associated with an increase in the time and frequency domain parameters SDNN, Total Power and LF after four weeks of intervention. No effect was found on actigraphy metrics.ConclusionsMobile HRV-BF intervention with 0.1 Hz breathing increased the reported subjective sleep quality and may enhance the vagal activity in healthy young adults. HRV-BF training emerges as a promising tool for improving sleep quality and sleep-related symptom severity by means of normalizing an impaired autonomic imbalance during sleep.
Highlights
Around eighty percent of the German working population report having problems falling asleep and/or sleeping through the night (Marschall et al, 2020)
The data collection from the 27 individuals included in the study was conducted between November 2020 and September 2021
With regard to the 5-minute supine position, there was a significant increase in ln + 1 standard deviation of all NN-intervals (SDNN), ln + 1 TP, and ln + 1 low-frequency band 0.04–0.15 Hz (LF) after the four weeks’ intervention. This is the first study to investigate the effect of Heart rate variability-biofeedback (HRV-BF) training on both subjective and objective sleep quality as well as on HRV in healthy adults
Summary
Around eighty percent of the German working population report having problems falling asleep and/or sleeping through the night (Marschall et al, 2020). Sleep disorders are related to increased stress reactions, somatic pain, reduced quality of life, emotional stress and mood disorders as well as cognitive, memory and performance deficits (Medic et al, 2017). An ever increasing number of adults are using hypnotics or sedatives to alleviate their disrupted sleep. In a US survey, 4% of the adults aged 20 and over reported using prescription sleep medication during one month (Chong et al, 2013). Most sleep medications have a number of side effects (Watson et al, 2012) and are related to a threefold increased risk of death (Kripke et al, 2012). More and more non-pharmacological treatment options, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, proved to be quite effective in the treatment of sleep disorders (Lie et al, 2015; Edinger et al, 2021)
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