Meditation-Based Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) September 30, 2022 Ting-Han Lin, Ka-Wai Tam, Yu-Ling Yang et al.
Meditation-based therapies reduce pain intensity and bothersomeness and improve quality of life for adults with chronic low back pain. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials involving 1,153 patients found that meditation-based therapies significantly lowered pain intensity compared with nonmeditation therapies, with a standardized mean difference of -0.27. They also reduced pain bothersomeness (SMD -0.21) and improved quality of life (SMD 0.27). The authors conclude that meditation-based therapies are a safe and effective alternative approach to managing chronic low back pain.