A protocol and novel tool for systematically reviewing the effects of mindful walking on mental and cardiovascular health

PLoS One. 2021 Oct 12;16(10):e0258424. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258424. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

To our knowledge, no published systematic review has described the effects of mindful walking on mental and cardiovascular health. We have aimed to fill this gap by first establishing our systematic review protocol. Our protocol was adapted from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and is registered in PROSPERO (Registration Number: CRD42021241180). The protocol is described step-by-step in this paper, which we wrote to achieve three objectives: to adhere to the best practices stated in the PRISMA guidelines, to ensure procedural transparency, and to enable readers to co-opt our protocol for future systematic reviews on mindful walking and related topics. To achieve our third objective, we provide and explain a novel tool we created to track the sources we will find and screen for our review. Ultimately, the protocol and novel tool will lead to the first published systematic review about mindful walking and will also facilitate future systematic reviews.

MeSH terms

  • Cardiovascular System / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mental Health*
  • Mindfulness
  • Research Design*
  • Systematic Reviews as Topic
  • Walking*

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.