Breathing Awareness Meditation and LifeSkills Training Programs Influence Upon Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Sodium Excretion Among African American Adolescents.

Author: Gregoski MJ, Barnes VA, Tingen MS, Harshfield GA, Treiber FA.
Affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, College of Nursing and Medicine, Charleston, South Carolina.
Conference/Journal: J Adolesc Health.
Date published: 2011 Jan
Other: Volume ID: 48 , Issue ID: 1 , Pages: 59-64 , Word Count: 228


PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of breathing awareness meditation (BAM), Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST), and health education control (HEC) on ambulatory blood pressure and sodium excretion in African American adolescents.

METHODS: Following 3 consecutive days of systolic blood pressure (SBP) screenings, 166 eligible participants (i.e., SBP >50th-95th percentile) were randomized by school to either BAM (n = 53), LST (n = 69), or HEC (n = 44). In-school intervention sessions were administered for 3 months by health education teachers. Before and after the intervention, overnight urine samples and 24-hour ambulatory SBP, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were obtained.

RESULTS: Significant group differences were found for changes in overnight SBP and SBP, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate over the 24-hour period and during school hours. The BAM treatment exhibited the greatest overall decreases on these measures (Bonferroni adjusted, ps < .05). For example, for school-time SBP, BAM showed a change of -3.7 mmHg compared with no change for LST and a change of -.1 mmHg for HEC. There was a nonsignificant trend for overnight urinary sodium excretion (p = .07), with the BAM group displaying a reduction of -.92 ± 1.1 mEq/hr compared with increases of .89 ± 1.2 mEq/hr for LST and .58 ± .9 mEq/hr for HEC group.

CONCLUSION: BAM appears to improve hemodynamic function and may affect sodium handling among African American adolescents who are at increased risk for development of cardiovascular disease.

Published by Elsevier Inc.
PMID: 21185525