SynthesisScientific reports2023
Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 86 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of a Nature-based, Self-help Intervention on Mental Wellbeing
A Box Breathing Intervention and the Surgical Stress Response in Older Adults Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial
Tailored Yoga Therapy for Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults: A Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial
Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Interventions Based on Biofeedback Systems to Improve Workers' Psychological Well-Being, Mental Health, and Safety: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of psychosensory interventions for the management of pediatric pain, fear, and distress during emergency care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Virtual Reality Breathing Interventions for Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2024Pooled it
- Proximal Effects of a Transdiagnostic, Ecological Momentary Intervention for Enhancing Resilience in Help-Seeking Young People (EMIcompass): Findings From a Secondary Analysis of an Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Effects of Breathing Exercises Applied to Intensive Care Nurses on Fatigue and Perceived Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial.La Medicina del lavoro · 2026Trial
- Examining the Effectiveness of Breathwork to Improve Resilience and Psychological Wellbeing While Reducing Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Insomnia in Paramedicine Students: A Single-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Trial
- A pilot randomized mobile health mindfulness intervention for older adult caregivers of family members with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.Aging & mental health · 2025Trial
- Light-guided resonant breathing enhances psychophysiological stress recovery in a simulated office environment.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Exploring combined vibration and music interventions for acute stress reduction: insights from two experimental studies.BMC psychology · 2025Trial
- Structural brain improvements following individually tailored serious exergame-based training in mild neurocognitive disorders: exploratory randomized controlled trial.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Find your rhythm and regulate: Breath-synced vibration feedback during breath-focused mindfulness reduces respiration variability in trauma-exposed adults.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2025Trial
- A 14-week structured breathing program: an investigation into its impact on psychological health parameters in university students.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training Can Improve Menopausal Symptoms and Psychological Well-Being in Women with a Diagnosis of Primary Breast Cancer: A Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Trial
- Lightening the mind with audiovisual stimulation as an accessible alternative to breath-focused meditation for mood and cognitive enhancement.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Effects of brief remote high ventilation breathwork with retention on mental health and wellbeing: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- "Brain-IT": Exergame training with biofeedback breathing in neurocognitive disorders.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Trial
- Effect of coherent breathing on mental health and wellbeing: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Slow breathing for reducing stress: The effect of extending exhale.Complementary therapies in medicine · 2023Trial
- High-intensity Interval Training and Mindfulness Breathing Induce Hormonal, Metabolic, and Anticarcinogenic Effects in Obese Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of evidence-based integrative medicineTrial
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Deliberate control of the breath (breathwork) has recently received an unprecedented surge in public interest and breathing techniques have therapeutic potential to improve mental health. Our meta-analysis primarily aimed to evaluate the efficacy of breathwork through examining whether, and to what extent, breathwork interventions were associated with lower levels of self-reported/subjective stress compared to non-breathwork controls. We searched PsycInfo, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov and ISRCTN up to February 2022, initially identifying 1325 results. The primary outcome self-reported/subjective stress included 12 randomised-controlled trials (k = 12) with a total of 785 adult participants. Most studies were deemed as being at moderate risk of bias. The random-effects analysis yielded a significant small-to-medium mean effect size, g = - 0.35 [95% CI - 0.55, - 0.14], z = 3.32, p = 0.0009, showing breathwork was associated with lower levels of stress than control conditions. Heterogeneity was intermediate and approaching significance, χ
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.