NIH grant enables UF College of Nursing to explore use of biofeedback to lower hypertension

More than 50 million Americans risk developing cardiovascular disease due to hypertension but a new biofeedback research grant may help University of Florida College of Nursing researchers decrease this number.

Powered by a $785,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, Carolyn Yucha, associate dean for research with UF’s College of Nursing, will begin a three-year study that focuses on how to determine which patients can successfully use biofeedback therapy to reduce hypertension.

A person trained to use biofeedback can monitor his or her body functions such as breathing, blood pressure and heart rate and alter one or all through the use of relaxation techniques such as imagery.

“Biofeedback offers an alternative to medical treatment, having been shown in some patients to reduce high blood pressure without the adverse side effects of some of the hypertension medications. However, the therapy is time and technician intensive. This makes it critical to be able to predict in advance which patients are most likely to lower their blood pressure using biofeedback therapy,” said Yucha, who also is an associate professor in UF’s adult and elderly nursing department.

The research will test three different methods currently used to predict an individual’s success in lowering blood pressure using biofeedback. One method is based on beliefs about controlling health, another on the magnitude of natural variations in blood pressure in a 24-hour period and the third on physiological measurements that reflect reactions to stress.

“There are several advantages to using biofeedback to reduce hypertension. Because there are no adverse physical side effects it’s often easier to get patients to adhere to the treatment, it’s noninvasive and a person can use it any time and any place,” Yucha said.