Table 2.
HRVB intervention and reporting quality checklist
| HRVB methodological guidelines | Considered | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| (0) Pre-Registration or Registration | ||
| (1) Sample | ||
| Power analysis: calculation of the minimum sample size to obtain an appropriate effect size. | ||
| Biological sex: number of women and men per group | ||
| Age: mean age for each group | ||
| Condition: e.g. students, cardiovascular patients or suffering from obesity | ||
| Weight (optional): mean weight for each group | ||
| Height (optional): mean height for each group | ||
| (2) Allocation | ||
| Recruitment of participants/patients/clients to the study | ||
| Compensation for participating in the study (payment, credits, holidays, etc.) | ||
| Inclusion and exclusion criteria assessed and explained | ||
| Awarenessor suspicion of participants of the experimental group assignation | ||
| Random (optional): assignation | ||
| (3) Missing participants and missing data | ||
| Initial sample: once the participants have agreed to participate or come to the first session | ||
| Final sample: participants included for the data analysis | ||
| Causes for losing participants/patients (optionally use a diagram) | ||
| Missing data for the statistical analysis | ||
| (4) Breathing protocol | ||
| Type of HRVB intervention based on the category of breathing technique. The type of intervention determines which items need to be completed | ||
| Resonance Frequency detection (optional): details about the establishment of the individual resonance frequency (RF). This item also includes when and how many times the RF was detected across the entire HRVB intervention | ||
| Mean of the Resonance Frequency (optional) for the experimental group | ||
| “Preset or fixed” Resonance Frequency (optional): for the “preset-pace” or slow-breathing intervention | ||
| Control of breathing rate (optional): for intervention with a collective or individual resonance frequency. E.g. use of a respirometer | ||
| Inhalation, holding and exhalation seconds for each breathing cycle | ||
| (5) Breathing intervention | ||
| Number of laboratory sessions of the HRVB intervention | ||
| Minutes at the laboratory actually breathing (not doing other experimental tasks) | ||
| Number of home-practice sessions (optional) | ||
| Minutes per each home-practice session (optional) | ||
| Control assessment for the home-practice sessions (optional) | ||
| (6) Conditions of the intervention | ||
| Laboratory conditions: ambient light | ||
| Laboratory conditions: temperature of the room | ||
| Laboratory conditions: body position | ||
| Laboratory conditions: time of day | ||
| Laboratory conditions: number of participants at the same time | ||
| Laboratory conditions (optional): smell/aroma, humidity and eyes (closed or open) | ||
| Home-practice sessions (optional): like time of day, ambient conditions, etc. | ||
| Recommendations for participants: like caffeine or alcohol intake, minimum hours of sleep, exercise before the session, etc. | ||
| Control of the recommendations for participants: how to assess the accomplishment of the previous recommendations and what to do if a participant does not follow them | ||
| (7) Equipment | ||
| HRVB apparatus: brand, type of metronome, type of biofeedback, is it validated? is it invasive? etc. | ||
| HRV apparatus (optional): brand, type of metronome, type of biofeedback, is it validated? is it invasive? etc. for the analysis of heart rate variability | ||
| Other apparatus for physiological analysis that can interact with the breathing performance such as a thoracic belt for breathing analysis (e.g. respirometer) | ||
Mark with and X whether you have considered or think about the item before applying the HRVB intervention. Mark with and X whether you have reported each item in the manuscript giving the necessary details