RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Meditation or Exercise for Preventing Acute Respiratory Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 337
OP 346
DO 10.1370/afm.1376
VO 10
IS 4
A1 Barrett, Bruce
A1 Hayney, Mary S.
A1 Muller, Daniel
A1 Rakel, David
A1 Ward, Ann
A1 Obasi, Chidi N.
A1 Brown, Roger
A1 Zhang, Zhengjun
A1 Zgierska, Aleksandra
A1 Gern, James
A1 West, Rebecca
A1 Ewers, Tola
A1 Barlow, Shari
A1 Gassman, Michele
A1 Coe, Christopher L.
YR 2012
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/10/4/337.abstract
AB PURPOSE This study was designed to evaluate potential preventive effects of meditation or exercise on incidence, duration, and severity of acute respiratory infection (ARI) illness. METHODS Community-recruited adults aged 50 years and older were randomized to 1 of 3 study groups: 8-week training in mindfulness meditation, matched 8-week training in moderate-intensity sustained exercise, or observational control. The primary outcome was area-under-the-curve global illness severity during a single cold and influenza season, using the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey (WURSS-24) to assess severity. Health care visits and days of missed work were counted. Nasal wash collected during ARI illness was assayed for neutrophils, interleukin-8, and viral nucleic acid. RESULTS Of 154 adults randomized into the study, 149 completed the trial (82% female, 94% white, mean age 59.3 ± 6.6 years). There were 27 ARI episodes and 257 days of ARI illness in the meditation group (n = 51), 26 episodes and 241 illness days in the exercise group (n = 47), and 40 episodes and 453 days in the control group (n = 51). Mean global severity was 144 for meditation, 248 for exercise, and 358 for control. Compared with control, global severity was significantly lower for meditation (P = .004). Both global severity and total days of illness (duration) trended toward being lower for the exercise group (P=.16 and P=.032, respectively), as did illness duration for the meditation group (P=.034). Adjusting for covariates using zero-inflated multivariate regression models gave similar results. There were 67 ARI-related days of-work missed in the control group, 32 in the exercise group (P = .041), and 16 in the meditation group (P <.001). Health care visits did not differ significantly. Viruses were identified in 54% of samples from meditation, 42% from exercise, and 54% from control groups. Neutrophil count and interleukin-8 levels were similar among intervention groups. CONCLUSIONS Training in meditation or exercise may be effective in reducing ARI illness burden.