Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Treating Chronic Pain A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Psychology, Health & Medicine November 26, 2020 Juhong Pei, Tong Ma, Rui-Lin Nan et al.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials involving 433 patients with chronic pain conditions (low back pain, fibromyalgia, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, and mixed etiology) found that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) produced short-term improvements in depressed mood and mindfulness compared with usual care or non-MBCT controls. No significant between-group differences were observed for pain intensity, pain interference, or pain acceptance at short- or long-term follow-up. MBCT did not differ from active treatments on any outcome. The authors call for longer follow-up, larger samples, and more rigorous trials to address remaining uncertainties.