Yogic meditation improves objective and subjective sleep quality of healthcare professionals

Our aim was to evaluate the impact of yogic meditation in sleep quality of healthy pediatric healthcare professionals. Subjects were randomized into a meditation group (MG, n = 32), who attended a yogic meditation class held for eight weeks, or a control group (CG, n = 32). Polysomnography (PSG) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were determined at baseline and after eight weeks. The PSQI overall score was lower (p = 0.024) in the MG. Reported sleep latency (p = 0.046) and MG sleep latency (p = 0.028) were lower in the MG at eight weeks. PSG showed a time effect (p = 0.020) on decreasing minutes of wake after sleep onset in the MG. There were strong and significant correlations between PSG and PSQI variables. There was a significant time effect on heart rate (p = 0.001) in the MG. Yogic meditation may be used as an integrative health tool to foster improvements in the health-related aspects of healthcare professionals' lives. CinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02947074; trial registry name: Meditation Practice in Pediatric Healthcare Professionals: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. •This is the first randomized controlled trial to investigate the use of meditation in pediatric healthcare professionals.•There was no dropout, indicating high acceptance and positive evaluation by the healthcare professionals.•Meditation leads to positive changes in sleep quality and may help healthcare professionals cope with their stressful routine.•Changes in quality of sleep are accompanied by corroborating changes in PSG, indicating a great validity of our data.•Resting heart rate decreases with meditation training, indicating professionals are less prone to burnout syndrome.