The effect of mindfulness meditation on quality of life, fatigue and kinesiophobia among patients with acute myocardial infarction: a randomized controlled study

The aim of this randomized controlled study was to examine the effect of mindfulness meditation (MM) intervention on quality of life, fatigue and kinesiophobia in patients with acute myocardial infarction (Mİ). The study was carried out with 56 MI patients in Coronary Intensive Care Units of Hacettepe University Adult Hospital, between 20 November 2018 and 11 June 2020. The patients who met inclusion criteria were assigned to either an intervention or a control group through a randomization program, compatible with Android phones, with a ratio of 1:1. Participants in the intervention group (n=28) received daily, 15 min. MM includes breathing and sitting meditation for a total of eight weeks, while participants in the control group (n=28) were given only a single time face-to-face training on the structure and function of the heart at the beginning of the study. The MacNew Quality of Life, Piper Fatigue Intervention and Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale-Heart were utilized for data collection. The scales were administered face-to-face to patients in both the intervention and the control groups at the beginning of the study, and at week 4, week 8, and week 12. The quality of life and its subscale scores of the patients in the intervention group increased significantly compared to the control group in the 8th week of the study (p<0.05). This significant change in the emotional function sub-dimension of quality of life continued in the 12th week (p<0.05). In addition, the kinesiophobia scores of the patients in the intervention group were significantly lower in the 4th, 8th and 12th weeks of the study compared to the control group (p<0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the fatigue scores of the patients in both study groups throughout the study (p>0.05). In line with the findings; MM is an effective method for improving the quality of life of patients and reducing the kinesiophobia after acute MI. Based on the results of the study, MM may be recommended as a mind-body based complementary approaches within the scope of secondary protection after MI.