Research Update

 Benign palpitations are a common symptom which, while not associated with a serious cardiac condition, can be highly disturbing and may lead to costly and repetitive diagnostic testing.  The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for the treatment of benign palpitations. Twenty participants reporting heart palpitations of at least two months duration were randomly assigned to either an eight-week MBSR course or to a wait list control group. Participants completed an eight-point rating scale of the frequency of their heart palpitations from 0 = never to 7 = more than once a day. Baseline 24 h Holter recordings were evaluated to confirm no evidence of serious arrhythmias.

MBSR participants reported a reduction in heart palpitations at the conclusion of the MBSR training of 2.2 points on the eight-point palpitation frequency scale, while the control group had an average reduction of only 0.1 points.  This difference was highly significant (p < .002). This improvement in the MBSR participants was sustained at one-month follow-up with MBSR participants reporting an average palpitation reduction of 2.8 points on the palpitation frequency scale compared to the control group average reduction of 0.2 points. These results suggest that MBSR training can be an effective treatment for patients with benign palpitations.

Owens J, Schorling J, Plews-Ogan M, Goodman M, Moorman R, Zaklin R, Dent J.