Main Outcomes
| Between-Group Differences | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome | Exercise (n = 47) | Meditation (n = 51) | Control (n = 51) | Exercise vs Control | Meditation vs Control |
| Participants with ARI illness, n (%) or (95% CI) | 17 (36) | 21 (41) | 28 (55) | 0.19 (−0.01 to 0.37) P=.032 | 0.14 (−0.06 to 0.32) P=.083 |
| Number of ARI episodes | 26 | 27 | 40 | ||
| Mean global severity score, n (95% CI)a | 248 (77 to 419) | 144 (62 to 225) | 358 (221 to 495) | 110 (−105 to 324) P=.16 | 214 (56 to 372) P=.0042 |
| Total days of ARI illness | 241 | 257 | 453 | ||
| Mean ARI illness days, n (95% CI) | 5.13 (2.64 to 7.62) | 5.04 (2.25 to 7.83) | 8.89 (5.76 to 12.02) | 3.76 (−0.24 to 7.75) P=.032 | 3.85 (−0.29 to 7.99) P=.034 |
| Health care visits and work days lost to illness | |||||
| Episodes of missed work, n | 21 | 25 | 33 | ||
| Total days missed, n | 91.5 | 99 | 144.5 | ||
| Mean missed days, n (95% CI) | 1.9 (0.8 to 3.1) | 1.9 (0.7 to 3.2) | 2.8 (1.5 to 4.2) | 0.9 (−0.9 to 2.7) P=.16 | 0.9 (−0.9 to 2.7) P=.17 |
| ARI-related missed days, n (95% CI) | 32 | 16 | 67 | 0.11 (−0.01 to 0.24) P=.041 | 0.30 (0.19 to 0.40) P <.001 |
| Mean ARI-related missed days, n (95% CI) | 0.68 (0.1 to 1.2) | 0.31 (0.1 to 0.5) | 1.31 (0.5 to 2.1) | 0.63 (−0.4 to 1.6) P=.10 | 1.0 (0.2 to 1.8) P=.011 |
| Total number of health care visits | 116 | 116 | 121 | ||
| Mean health care visits, n (95% CI) | 2.5 (1.7 to 3.2) | 2.3 (1.6 to 2.9) | 2.4 (1.8 to 2.9) | −0.1 (−1.0 to 0.8) P=.42 | 0.1 (−0.7 to 0.9) P=.41 |
| ARI-related health care visits, n (95% CI) | 15 | 10 | 16 | 0.003 (−0.09 to 0.09) P=.47 | 0.05 (−0.04 to 0.13) P=.13 |
| Mean ARI-related health care visits, n (95% CI) | 0.32 (0.14 to 0.49) | 0.20 (0.07 to 0.32) | 0.31 (0.12 to 0.50) | −0.01 (−0.26 to 0.25) P=.48 | 0.11 (−0.11 to 0.34) P=.15 |
| Mean non-ARI-related health care visits, n (95% CI) | 2.15 (1.5 to 2.8) | 2.08 (1.5 to 2.7) | 2.06 (1.5 to 2.6) | −0.09 (−0.89 to 0.71) P=.41 | −0.02 (−0.80 to 0.76) P=.48 |
| Biomarker and viral identification data from nasal secretions | |||||
| IL-8, mean pg/mL (95% CI)b | 694 (484 to 904) | 910 (696 to 1,124) | 658 (511 to 806) | −36 (−282 to 211) | −252 (−497 to −6) |
| Neutrophils, mean n/HPF (95% CI) | 103.7 (−46.1 to 253.5) | 107.9 (23.0 to 192.8) | 110.4 (22.9 to 197.9) | 6.7 (−150.8 to 164.2) | 2.5 (−119.6 to 124.6) |
| Positive for virus, n (95% CI) | 8 | 14 | 19 | 0.12 (−0.15 to 0.38) | 0.004 (−0.24 to 0.25) |
| Specific viruses (n)c | HRV (7) | CoV (2) | Adv C (1) | ||
| MPV (1) | HRV (10) | CoV (3) | |||
| MPV (1) | Flu A (2) | ||||
| PIV (2) | HRV (11) | ||||
| RSV (1) | MPV (1) | ||||
| PIV (1) | |||||
| RSV (1) | |||||
| Negative for virus, n | 11 | 12 | 16 | ||
AdV=adenoviruses; ARI=acute respiratory infection; CoV=coronaviruses; flu A=influenza A/H1N1/California 2009; HPF = high-power field; HRV=human rhinoviruses; IL-8=interleukin 8; MPV=metapneumovirus; PIV=parainfluenza viruses; RSV = respiratory syncytial virus. WURSS-24 = 24-item Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey.
Notes: P values come from unadjusted intervention-to-control contrasts, using 2 sample t test for continuous means (SAS software) and proportional difference for binomials (StatXact-5, Cytel Statistical Software & Services). P values represent unadjusted contrasts of interventions to control. Significance was set at P ≤.025.
↵a Global severity calculated as the area under the curve using WURSS-24 scores for y-axis and duration of ARI illness as x-axis.
↵b IL-8: interleukin-8 (pg/mL) assessed by ELISA (Human IL-8 BD OptEIA Set, BD Biosciences Pharmingen).
↵c Two nasal wash samples from the meditation group yielded both CoV and HRV. One ARI in the control group yielded both AdV and HRV.