Journal Article
Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain
Oct 7, 2016
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from randomized controlled trials of mindfulness meditation interventions — used adjunctively or as monotherapy — to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in alleviating chronic pain in adults.
Format | File Size | Notes |
---|---|---|
PDF file | 1.5 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience. |
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from randomized controlled trials of mindfulness meditation interventions — used adjunctively or as monotherapy — to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in alleviating chronic pain in adults.
Outcomes of interest included changes in pain symptomatology, use of analgesics, functional status, health-related quality of life, functional impairment (disability measures), and adverse events. Meta-analyses for efficacy outcomes were conducted using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for random-effects models. Quality of evidence was assessed using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (or GRADE) approach.
In total, 28 studies met inclusion criteria. Mindfulness meditation was associated with a small effect of improved pain symptoms compared with control groups in a meta-analysis of 24 randomized controlled trials. However, there was evidence of substantial heterogeneity among studies, resulting in a low quality of evidence assessment for this outcome. We were unable to determine which patient subgroups or intervention characteristics were associated with greater efficacy. Mindfulness meditation statistically significantly improved depression and health-related quality of life. Adverse events were rare and not serious, but the vast majority of studies did not collect adverse event data. The low quality of evidence prevents any strong conclusions about mindfulness meditation for chronic pain. Additional trials with adequate power, greater efforts to prevent attrition, monitoring of adherence to meditation practice, active collection of adverse events, and better reporting of methods are suggested.
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
Methods
Chapter Three
Results
Chapter Four
Discussion
Appendix A
Search Strategy
Appendix B
Excluded Full-Text Articles
Appendix C
Evidence Table of Included Studies
Appendix D
Studies Included in the Most Recent Systematic Review
This research was sponsored by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.