Enhanced mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR+) in episodic migraine: a randomized clinical trial with MRI outcomes
Pain March 13, 2020 D. Seminowicz, S. Burrowes, A. Kearson et al.
In a randomized, assessor-blind trial, 98 adults with episodic migraine received either enhanced mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR+) or stress management for headache (SMH) over 16 weeks. MBSR+ reduced headache days from 7.8 to 4.6 per month by 20 weeks, compared with a reduction from 7.7 to 6.0 for SMH, a statistically significant difference. Response rates (50% reduction in headache days) were 52% for MBSR+ versus 23% for SMH. Headache-related disability also improved more with MBSR+. No differences in clinical outcomes persisted at 52 weeks, and MRI outcomes at 20 weeks showed no group differences, though cognitive network changes were observed with MBSR+.