Spirit and Sense: Autonomic Response to Integrative Medicine Intervention for Health Care Personnel During Wartime

The war in Israel placed health care providers (HCPs) under intense emotional and physical stress. HCPs referred to an integrative medicine (IM) intervention that underwent heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, comparing those reporting emotional and spiritual-related keywords (ESKs) with those not (nESKs).

HCPs from different backgrounds underwent a single 30-minute, individually tailored multimodal IM session (acupuncture, mind-body medicine, and manual/movement modalities). Postintervention narratives from the Measure Yourself Concerns and Well-being (MYCAW) questionnaire were analyzed for clusters of ESKs. HRV parameters were measured (3 minute intervals throughout, to 15 minute postintervention) for change in frequency-domain variable of percentage of high frequency bands (relative power HF, %) and the natural log (Ln) of the HF power, comparing ESKs to nESKs. LF bands (relative power and natural log); root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD), SD of NN intervals (SDNN), and percentage of successive RR intervals differing by more than 50 ms (pNN50) were also examined.

One hundred sixty-two HCPs underwent IM treatment, 136 with high-quality HRV measurements, with 87 (64%) ESKs. Mean relative power HF (%) increased more significantly for ESKs ( p < 0.01), with the Ln HF power increasing only for ESKs, indicating a higher autonomic relaxation status in the ESKs group associated with increased pNN50 ( p = 0.022) and RMSSD/ SDNN ratio ( p = 0.010).

HCPs with war-related trauma expressing ESKs showed a greater autonomic relaxation state with the IM intervention than nESKs. Further research needs to examine the relationship between expressing ESKs and HRV parameters among HCPs during wartime.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifer: NCT06612749.