ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Heart Failure and Transplantation
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1587547
This article is part of the Research TopicA Patient-Centered Approach to the Management of Heart Failure and ComorbiditiesView all 4 articles
The Effectiveness of Mindful Walking Based on the Timing It Right Framework in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Chronic Heart Failure
Provisionally accepted
- 1the second affiliated hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China
- 2Sunto Women and Children’s Hospital, Jiaxing, China
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Objective: To explore the effects of mindful walking (MFW) based on the Timing It Right (TIR) framework on anxiety, depression, and cardiopulmonary function in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic heart failure (CHF).Methods: Eighty-six patients with AF and CHF were enrolled from the cardiology department of our hospital between June 2023 and March 2024. Forty-three patients were assigned to the control group (Ward A) and 43 to the intervention group (Ward B). After excluding those lost to follow-up or readmitted, 39 patients remained in the control group and 41 in the intervention group. The control group received routine care and exercise rehabilitation, while the intervention group also received MFW based on the TIR framework. Outcome measures included the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), 6-minute Walk Distance (6MWD), incidence of adverse cardiac events, and Senior Fitness Test (SFT).Results: After 24 weeks, there were no significant differences in baseline characteristics or pre-intervention scores between the two groups (P > 0.05). Post-intervention, the SAS and SDS scores in the intervention group were significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.001). The intervention group also showed higher FFMQ scores for observing, describing, and acting with awareness (P < 0.001), and a significantly greater 6MWD (376.90 ± 42.99 vs 312.13 ± 15.01, P < 0.001). Additionally, the intervention group had greater lower limb muscle strength and grip strength compared to the control group (P < 0.001).Conclusion: The TIR-based MFW intervention significantly improved mindfulness, cardiopulmonary function, and negative emotion scores in patients with AF and CHF, compared to standard care.
Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation, chronic heart failure, mindful walking, Negative emotions, Timing It Right framework
Received: 04 Mar 2025; Accepted: 05 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Lu, Zheng, Shen, Zhao, Xu, Gu and Chu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jingjing Lu, the second affiliated hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China
Zhenliang Chu, the second affiliated hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China
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