The Mindfulness Intervention as Myocardial Infarction Rehabilitation Additive (MIMIRA) Study (MIMIRA)

Depressive symptomatology in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) has prognostic importance. Yet, psychological interventions in clinical practice are scarce. Here, we explored the feasibility and acceptability of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in patients with depressive symptoms after a recent coronary event. A second aim was to investigate psychological risk factors and resources among participants.

To address the research questions, depressive symptoms were first measured in a reference population, at 1 and 12 months after a coronary event (myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris), and a cut-off for elevated depressive symptoms were obtained from the median in this group. Thereafter, similar CAD patients with elevated depressive symptoms (above median in the reference group), from the same outpatient clinic, were consecutively invited to an 8-week MBSR program. Serious physical or psychiatric illness that would be an obstacle to participation were exclusion criteria.

Patients who completed the MBSR-course were asked to evaluate its various facets, and completion rate and attendance were feasibility outcomes. Psychological variables were measured before, after the course as well as 12 months later.