Impact of Meditation on Reducing Stress in Glaucoma Patients: an Electronic Feasibility Study

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that causes loss of vision and potentially blindness as aresult of optic nerve damage, often due to increased intraocular pressure. Glaucoma iscurrently the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.1 In 2020, 4.1 millionand 3.6 million adults over the age of 50 suffered from mild to severe glaucoma‐inducedvisual impairment and blindness, respectively.1 However, these figures are likelyunderestimated since glaucoma can remain asymptomatic until later stages in diseaseprogression.2 The relaxation response evoked by mind‐body interventions, such asbreathing exercises and meditation, is known to reduce stress and improve quality of life(QOL). In a recent study, mindfulness‐based meditation was found to reduce intraocularpressure and improve QOL in patients with glaucoma.3 A feasibility study will beconducted using a mixed‐method design to assess the feasibility of the online delivery ofmeditation for potentially enhancing the QOL and reducing stress in glaucoma patients.Upon recruitment, participants will undergo blocked randomization to either theintervention arm or usual care arm. Participants in each arm will complete onlinequestionnaires at baseline and weeks 1, 3, 6, and 12 to collect data on health‐relatedquality of life (HRQOL), perceived stress, and behaviour using REDCap. REDCap is anonline data collection and survey tool hosted by the Office of Research Services ofLawson Research Institute. Our study can help to assess the feasibility of conducting astudy on breathing exercises followed by meditation to assess its effects in a sample ofpatients with glaucoma.