Psychological predictors of the antihypertensive effects of music-guided slow breathing

Results At mixed model analysis, intervention was associated with a significant reduction of 24-h (PU0.001) and night-time (0100–0600 h) (P<0.0001) systolic ABP. The average reduction of systolic 24-h ABP at 6 months was 4.6mmHg [confidence limits at 95% 1.93–7.35] and 4.1mmHg (95% confidence limits 1.59–6.67) vs. Control-M and Control-R groups, respectively, (P<0.001 for both). Antihypertensive treatment was selected as negative predictor of BP reduction at multivariate stepwise analysis. When antihypertensive treatment was inserted as covariate in a generalized linear model, psychological subscales assessed at baseline by the Mental Health Inventory questionnaire were found to affect systolic blood pressure reduction at 6-month follow-up (general positive affect P<0.001; emotional ties, P<0.001; loss of behavioral control, PU0.035). In particular, a level of general positive affect higher than the 75th percentiles was found to be significantly associated with low treatment efficacy (odds ratio 0.09; 95% confidence limits 0.01–0.93). Conclusion Daily sessions of voluntary music-guided slow breathing significantly reduce 24-h systolic ABP, and psychological predictors of efficacy can be identified.