Abstract
Study design
A three-arm randomized controlled trial.
Objectives
To investigate the effects of the Wim Hof Method (WHM), with (WHM-C) and without cold exposure (WHM-NC), on mental and physical health in persons with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting
Rehabilitation centre (assessments and once-weekly intervention sessions) and home-based (daily intervention sessions).
Methods
Sixty adults with chronic SCI will be randomised (1:1:1) to one of three groups: participants in the intervention groups (i.e., WHM-C and WHM-NC) will engage in a 7-week intervention, with one weekly practice session at the rehabilitation centre and a daily WHM session at home. WHM-NC will consist of breathing exercises and mindset, while participants in WHM-C will partake in breathing exercises, mindset and cold exposure. Participants allocated to usual care (UC) will not receive the WHM intervention. The primary outcome is mental health reported via the Mental Health Inventory (MHI)-5, while secondary outcomes include circulating inflammatory and metabolic marker concentration, pulmonary function, body composition, sleep quality, spasticity, chronic pain and psychological stress.
Ethics and dissemination
Ethics approval has been obtained from the medical ethics committee of the Máxima Medical Centre (Veldhoven, the Netherlands; identifier: w22.069). If shown efficacious in improving mental health, as well as physical health, in persons with chronic SCI, the low cost and accessibility of the WHM allows it to be directly implemented in SCI rehabilitation.
Trial registration number
NCT05704322.
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Data availability
The de-identified datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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SV, FE, MvdB, VvdS, EvB, LvO, WA, HD, TJ and SdG were responsible for designing the study. SH and SdG were responsible for writing the manuscript. FE, MvdB, VvdS, EvB, LvO, WA, HD and TJ provided feedback on/revised the product.
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Funded by Dr. C.J. Vaillant Fonds, W.M. de Hoop Stichting, Ars Donandi / Yske Walther fonds, and Reade foundation. Financial disclosure statements have been obtained, and no conflicts of interest have been reported by the authors or by any individuals in control of the content of this article.
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Hoekstra, S., Ettema, F., van der Bijll, M. et al. The effect of breathing exercises and mindset with or without cold exposure on mental and physical health in persons with a spinal cord injury—a protocol for a three-arm randomised-controlled trial. Spinal Cord 62, 237–240 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-024-00976-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-024-00976-9
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