effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on blood pressure, mental health, and quality of life in hypertensive adult women: a randomized clinical trial study

Background: hypertension is one of the most important causes of cardiovascular diseases. patients with hypertension have a lower quality of life. we aimed to evaluate the effects of mindfulness meditation on blood pressure, mental health, and quality of life in patients with hypertension. methods: this randomized clinical trial was performed in 2019 in isfahan. eighty adult women with stage i or ii hypertension were included and assigned randomly to 2 groups: 12 weeks of mindfulness-based stress reduction (mbsr) and routine care. at baseline and 1 week after the end of the intervention, blood pressure, stress, depression, anxiety, and quality of life of the studied participants were measured using the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (dass-21) and 36-item short form survey (sf-36) questionnaires. the data were analyzed using the independent t-test, the paired t-test, and the mancova test. results: after the intervention, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased significantly in the intervention group compared with the baseline (142.82±11.01 mmhg vs 133.7±510.43 mmhg for systolic pressure and 86.12±8.24 mmhg vs 79.15±6.26 mmhg for diastolic pressure) and the control group (140.18±14.27 mmhg vs 142.15±10.23 mmhg for systolic pressure and 84.62±9.22 vs mmhg 88.51±8.54 mmhg for diastolic pressure; p=0.001). there was also a significant increase in quality of life, stress, anxiety, and depression scores in the intervention group (p<0.05). conclusion: the 12-week mbsr program resulted in a significant reduction in the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures and improvement in mental health and different aspects of quality of life.