Effects of mindful breathing combined with sleep-inducing exercises in patients with insomnia

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

Research background

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder. It disrupts the patient’s life and work, increases the risk of various health issues, and often requires long-term intervention. The financial burden and inconvenience discourage patients from complying with the treatments, leading to chronic insomnia.

Research motivation

Mindfulness is a well-researched psychological practice and can be an effective nonpharmacological intervention, and its stability and effectiveness have been demonstrated in many studies about the insomnia. Herein, we employed a use a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of mindful breathing combined with a sleep-inducing exercise as adjunctive therapies for patients with insomnia.

Research objectives

To investigate the effects of mindful breathing combined with sleep-inducing exercises in patients with insomnia.

Research methods

In this work, the control group received routine therapies and care, while the treatment group was intervened with mindful breathing and a sleep-inducing exercise in addition to the routine therapies and care. The guided mindful breathing practice was performed daily, overseen by a nurse who played an audio recording of the guiding instructions in the treatment-group patient’s ward for 30 min prior to bedtime. Follow-up interviews were performed via telephone at 1 wk, 1 mo, and 3 mo after the intervention, and the information collected was used to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, and Insomnia Severity Index.

Research results

Our results showed that 1 wk of intervention with the routine pharmacological and physical intervention therapies administered to the patients with insomnia during the hospitalization period did not significantly affect the treatment group. Thus, the effectiveness of the two practices was not demonstrated within that short time-frame. However, compared with the control group, patients in the treatment group exhibited significant improvements in sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep efficiency, sleep duration, daytime functioning, anxiety level, and insomnia severity at 1 and 3 mo of the intervention.

Research conclusions

We found that the combination of mindful breathing and a sleep-inducing exercise are useful as adjunctive therapies in the long-term treatment of patients with insomnia.

Research perspectives

The future research aims at how to enhance the effect of mindful breathing and a sleep-inducing exercise on the treatment of insomnia.