Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Initiative in the Digital Economy, Department of Science, Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Oct 15;8(10):e19412. doi: 10.2196/19412.
Recovery from stress is a predictive factor for cardiovascular health, and heart rate variability (HRV) is suggested to be an index of how well people physiologically recover from stress. Biofeedback and mindfulness interventions that include guided breathing have been shown to be effective in increasing HRV and facilitating stress recovery.
This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a brief app-based breathing intervention (BioBase) in enhancing physiological recovery among employees who were induced to cognitive and emotional stress.
In total, we recruited 75 full-time employees. Interbeat (RR) intervals were recorded continuously for 5 min at baseline and during cognitive and emotional stress induction. The session ended with a 5-min recovery period during which participants were randomly allocated into 3 conditions: app-based breathing (BioBase), mindfulness body scan, or control. Subjective tension was assessed at the end of each period.
Subjective tension significantly increased following stress induction. HRV significantly decreased following the stress period. In the recovery phase, the root mean square of successive RR interval differences (P=.002), the percentage of successive RR intervals that differed by >50 ms (P=.008), and high frequency (P=.01) were significantly higher in the BioBase breathing condition than in the mindfulness body scan and the control groups.
Biofeedback breathing interventions digitally delivered through a commercially available app can be effective in facilitating stress recovery among employees. These findings contribute to the mobile health literature on the beneficial effects of brief app-based breathing interventions on employees' cardiovascular health.
压力后恢复是心血管健康的一个预测因素，心率变异性（HRV）被认为是人们从压力中生理恢复良好的指标。包括引导呼吸的生物反馈和正念干预已被证明可有效增加 HRV 并促进压力恢复。
本研究旨在评估基于应用程序的简短呼吸干预（BioBase）在增强因认知和情绪压力而诱发的员工生理恢复方面的有效性。
共招募了 75 名全职员工。在基线和认知及情绪压力诱导期间连续记录 5 分钟的心动周期（RR）间隔。在 5 分钟的恢复期结束时，参与者被随机分配到 3 种条件：基于应用程序的呼吸（BioBase）、正念身体扫描或对照。在每个阶段结束时评估主观紧张程度。
主观紧张在压力诱导后显著增加。HRV 在压力期后显著下降。在恢复阶段，BioBase 呼吸条件的连续 RR 间隔差异均方根（P=.002）、差异超过 50ms 的连续 RR 间隔百分比（P=.008）和高频（P=.01）显著高于正念身体扫描和对照组。
通过市售应用程序数字传输的生物反馈呼吸干预可有效促进员工压力恢复。这些发现为移动健康文献中关于基于应用程序的简短呼吸干预对员工心血管健康的有益影响提供了依据。
