Research Project
7661430
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Part A. Proposed is a predoctoral fellowship program which integrates psychological techniques with the fields of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and cardiology. The research training includes an academic component leading to a doctoral dissertation in Psychology to develop competence in psychological discourse and theory. The intent of the training program is to create a researcher and scholar prepared for an independent career by developing skills including protocol design and implementation, analysis, grant preparation, and publication. The core research experience will be a blind, randomized clinical trial with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients using a physical behavioral intervention. Psychosocial factors like anxiety have been shown to increase the risk of morbidity and mortality for patients with cardiovascular disease. Yoga, a physical activity intended to create emotional change, may address these risk factors in ICD patients. The study will use yoga for the intervention and standard medical care for the control. The study identifies ways in which subjects respond, internally or externally, through the administration of several inventories, including a test for dominant response type. The hypothesis is that dominant response type will predict yoga's effectiveness as a treatment, and that different response types are affected by yoga differently. The researcher will be blinded to the participants'response types. Psychosocial and clinical data will be collected on the intervention and control groups, and ICD records will yield heart activity profiles before, during, and after weekly interventions in both groups. Data will be analyzed to see whether a physical behavioral intervention (yoga) can lower risks for morbidity and mortality in ICD patients. If the results are predictive, hospitals may be able to develop screening and programs for individuals who can benefit from yoga. At the conclusion of this training, the researcher will have graduated from Clark University with a doctoral degree and gained both knowledge and competency in psychological research in cardiology and CAM. The proposed academic and research program is a solid foundation on which to build a career to more completely understand the mechanisms of the body/mind relationship and its capacity to prevent and reduce disease. This application describes both the details of the proposed research and the applicant's qualifications to successfully execute them. Part B. By using yoga with patients who have implanted heart defibrillators, this study collects data to predict yoga's effectiveness to reduce anxiety and improve cardiac function. If the study proves predictive, hospitals may be able to identify individuals who can benefit most from yoga.
