For patients with panic disorder or social anxiety disorder, adding mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to usual care costs about JPY 13,885 more per patient over 8 weeks but improves anxiety symptoms and quality of life. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) was JPY 1,566,357, well below Japan's willingness-to-pay threshold of JPY 5,000,000, giving a 77.5% probability of being cost-effective. MBCT reduced state anxiety by 10.13 points and trait anxiety by 12.00 points on the STAI. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the findings were robust.
A feasibility randomized controlled trial compares augmented mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with follow-up sessions to augmented MBCT without follow-up sessions for adults aged 20–65 with panic disorder, agoraphobia, or social anxiety disorder that has not remitted after at least 4 weeks of usual treatment. The 8-week MBCT program includes a 10-month follow-up period. Primary outcomes are inclusion rate, dropout rate, attendance rate, and clinical measures at 8 weeks and 5, 8, and 12 months. Recruitment began in January 2020 and 43 participants were enrolled by January 2021; data collection is expected to finish by May 2022. The study is limited by mixed intervention delivery modes and lack of a pharmacotherapy-alone arm.
Eight weeks of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, followed by two monthly classes, improves both cognitive and affective aspects of subjective well-being and eudaimonic well-being in healthy community residents with initially low life satisfaction. Cognitive well-being and mindfulness skills improved significantly by 8 weeks, and these gains continued through the 16-week follow-up. Positive affect and eudaimonic well-being showed significant improvement only at 16 weeks. The order of improvement was cognitive, then positive affective, then eudaimonic well-being.
An eight-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) program, compared with a wait-list control, improved psychological distress, fear of cancer recurrence, fatigue, spiritual wellbeing, and quality of life in Japanese patients with stage I to III breast cancer. Benefits were maintained four weeks after the intervention ended.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) helped reduce depression in patients who had not recovered despite prior medication. In a secondary-care setting, patients who received MBCT showed significantly greater improvement in depressive symptoms compared to those receiving treatment as usual. The therapy was especially beneficial for those with more severe or chronic depression. The findings suggest MBCT can be an effective additional treatment for people who have not responded to pharmacotherapy alone.