Benefits from one session of deep and slow breathing on vagal tone and anxiety in young and older adults

Summary & key facts

Researchers tested one session of deep, slow belly breathing in 22 older adults and 25 younger adults. The breathing was slow and deep, with a shorter inhale than exhale. After that single session, both age groups felt less anxious and showed signs that the “rest-and-digest” side of the nervous system was more active. The increase in that heart-related signal was larger for older people. The authors say this could help manage short-term anxiety in older adults, but more research is needed.

Key facts:

• The study compared 22 older adults with 25 younger adults who did one session of deep and slow breathing.
• Both older and younger people reported lower state anxiety after the breathing session.
• A heart-rate measure linked to the parasympathetic or “rest-and-digest” system called high-frequency power increased after the breathing in both groups.
• The increase in that high-frequency heart-rate signal was larger in older adults than in younger adults.
• Another heart-rate variability measure called RMSSD did not increase, which the researchers expected because the inhale and exhale lengths were different during the breathing.
• The authors say these results point to possible clinical uses for older adults but also note that more work is required before drawing firm conclusions.

Abstract

Anxiety is recognized as a major health issue and is quite prevalent among older adults. An efficient way to manage anxiety is abdominal breathing. Breathing exercises seem to reduce anxiety and to increase parasympathetic activity assessed by HRV indexes. Yet, the effect of abdominal breathing on physiological stress (HRV) and anxiety in older adults remains poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the effects of deep and slow breathing (DSB, low inhale/exhale ratio) on physiological stress and anxiety in older adults (n = 22) in comparison with younger ones (n = 25). DSB increased significantly HFpower and reduced state anxiety in both younger and older adults. Interestingly, the increased in HF power was significantly higher among older adults than younger ones. As expected, the ratio inhale/exhale being not equal, RMSSD did not increase following DSB. Thus, we provide evidence suggesting that DSB is more beneficial to older adults than younger ones to restore vagal outflow. Despite future work being required, those results provide relevant clinical application leads to manage state anxiety among older adults and to promote successfull aging.

Topics

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Behavioral Health and Interventions Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control

Categories

Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine Health Sciences Medicine

Tags

Anesthesia Anxiety Audiology Blood pressure Breathing Heart rate Heart rate variability Internal medicine Medicine Psychiatry Vagal tone Young adult

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Anxiety or worry