A Brief Mindfulness Intervention for Pain Management in Fibromyalgia: A Single-arm Open-Label Study.
Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience August 1, 2026 Perianen Ramasawmy, Luise Charlotte Heim, Elisabeth Fechner et al.
A four-week mindfulness-based intervention tailored for fibromyalgia, including weekly online group meetings and daily practices, was tested in an open-label single-arm study with 46 patients. Pain intensity measured on a numerical rating scale decreased statistically, but only 15.3% of participants achieved clinically meaningful pain relief. Moderate improvement in quality of life occurred, with 45.6% clinical responders. Small-to-medium improvements were seen in affective pain, mindfulness, resilience, and a measure of GABABergic inhibition (long-interval intracortical inhibition). The authors conclude that the results are insufficient to draw firm conclusions about therapeutic efficacy due to the study design and lack of clinical significance despite statistical significance.