DAILY SESSIONS (30MIN) OF MUSIC-GUIDED SLOW BREATHING EXERCISES REDUCE 24-H AMBULATORY BLOOD PRESSURE AT 6 MONTHS FOLLOW-UP

ObJective: Slow breathing is followed by an acute reduction in heart rate and blood pressure (BP). Previous studies revealed that 15 min daily session of device-guided slow breathing induce a significant BP reduction at 8 weeks in hypertensive outpatients. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether 6 months of daily sessions of music-guided slow breathing may influence 24-h ambulatory BP in treated or non treated hypertensive outpatients. Oesign and Method: The study had a randomised, placebo controlled, parallel designo Hypertensive outpa tients were randomized into three groups: 1) the Intervention group (n=29, aged 58±10 years) where subjects were thought to perform slow breathing exercises (4-6 breaths/min; 1:2 ratio of inspiration:expiration duration) synchronized with music listening (classica I, celtic, indian); subjects allocated to control groups were thought either to relax 2) while listening slow music (Control-M group; n = 24, aged 57±9 years) or 3) while reading a book or rnaqazlne (Control-R group; n=31, aged 60±12 years). Ali subjects were requested to repeat the relaxation sessions for 30 min daily at home in comfortable conditions. Validated ambulatory BP devices (SpaceLabs 90207) were fitted to ali subjects at randomization (baseline) and atter 1 week and 1, 3 and 6 months. Results: Statistical analysis conducted on the difference between each ambulatory measurement and the baseline value within subject, revealed a significant effect of intervention on 24-h systolic ambulatory BP (p < 0.001). In particular at the 6-month visit the Intervention group had on average a 24-h systolic BP 4.9 mmHg (95% CI 1.5-8.4 mmHg) and 4.0 mmHg (95% CI 1.1-6.8 mmHg) lower that the Control-M and Control-R groups respectively. Mixed model analysis revealed tnat intervention was associated with a significant reduction of both day-time (08:00-20:00 h) (p <0.02) and nighttime (01:00-06:00 h) (p < 0.0001) systolic BP values. The 24-h diastolic BP changes displayed a similar trend of reduction but did not reach statistica I significance. Heart rate did not show any time-related change. Betweengroup differences were not affected by covariate analysis that considered age, body mass index, medication status and gender. Conclusions: The present study shows that daily sessions of musicguided slow breathing exercises may reduce 24-h systolic ambulatory BP in hypertensive subjects.