P02.131. Effects of meditation on perceived stress, mood, sleep, memory and blood pressure in cognitively impaired adults and their caregivers: a pilot trial

Methods Six community-dwelling adults with an established diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early stage Alzheimer’s disease (4 women, 2 men), together with their live-in caregivers (3 women, 3 men), were enrolled in the study. Each participant dyad was trained in a basic Kundalini yoga meditation and asked to complete an 8-week meditation program (two 11-minute sessions per day) with the aid of an instruction sheet and meditation CD. Major outcomes included measures of stress (Perceived Stress Scale), sleep (General Sleep Disturbance Questionnaire), mood (Profile of Mood States), memory function (Memory Functioning Questionnaire), and sympathetic activation (blood pressure, heart rate). Participants were assessed at baseline and following completion of the 8-week program. Changes in specific measures over time (0-8 weeks) were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA.