Exploring the Impact of a 7-Week Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Protocol on Skin Severity, Quality of Life, and Mental Health in a Proof-of-Concept Pre–Post Trial of Individuals with Psoriasis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: Psoriasis often coexists with psychiatric disorders and decreased quality of life (QoL), with treatments commonly overlooking the psychological impact of the disease. Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) may offer a mind–body solution by providing real-time feedback on autonomic functions, teaching individuals to manage stress via controlled breathing. Objective: To examine the impact of a 7-week HRVB protocol on skin severity (SS), QoL, and mental health (MH) in individuals with psoriasis and determine the sustainability of any outcomes post-intervention. Methods: A single-arm, proof-of-concept pre–post trial was conducted at Bastyr University Clinic in San Diego, CA. Five individuals were recruited, screened, and underwent a 7-week HRVB protocol. Assessments included SS through the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI-P and PASI-C), QoL via the Cardiff Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and MH using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Data collection points were baseline, post-protocol, and 1-month follow-up. Results: Notable improvements were observed between baseline and post-protocol for PASI-P, DLQI, and GAD-7. A significant change remained for GAD-7 between baseline and follow-up. No major differences were identified for PASI-C and PHQ-9 across any timeframe, and other scales remained consistent between post-protocol and follow-up. Conclusion: HRVB showed promise in enhancing perceived SS, QoL, and anxiety over 7 weeks. Further studies should expand participant numbers and diversify initial scores, comparing HRVB with a control group. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05506644, retrospectively registered on 16 August 2022.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.005 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.005 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".