Pain Practice
October 9, 2026
David Cardona Müller, Eric L Garland, Robert Randolph Edwards et al.
BACKGROUND: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is common and often refractory to existing treatments, necessitating long-term opioid therapy, which has substantial risks. Mindfulness-based (MBT) and cognitive behavioral (CBT) therapies are safe and can be effective for CLBP. AIMS: To better understand how MBT and CBT may help improve opioid-treated CLBP: METHODS: This qualitative study involved a...
JAMA Network Open
April 1, 2025
Aleksandra Zgierska, Robert R Edwards, Bruce P. Barrett et al.
Key Points Question What is the comparative effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) and standard-of-care cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) among adults with opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP)? Findings In this randomized clinical trial of 770 adults with opioid-treated CLBP, although there were no differences between groups, both the MBT and CBT groups experienced improved...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
June 1, 2023
Anna Parisi, Aleksandra Zgierska, Cindy A. Burzinski et al.
Individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP) are commonly prescribed long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for analgesia, placing this population at increased risk for opioid misuse and opioid use disorder. Acceptance of aversive experiences (e.g., chronic pain) and awareness of automatic thoughts and behaviors (i.e., automaticity) are two facets of dispositional mindfulness that may serve as...
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
2017
Aleksandra Zgierska, Joshua Shapiro, Cindy A. Burzinski et al.
Treatment fidelity is essential to methodological rigor of clinical trials evaluating behavioral interventions such as Mindfulness Meditation (MM). However, procedures for monitoring and maintenance of treatment fidelity are inconsistently applied, limiting the strength of such research. To describe the implementation and findings related to fidelity monitoring of the Mindfulness-Based Relapse...
Journal of opioid management
2017
Aleksandra Zgierska, James Ircink, Cindy A. Burzinski et al.
Opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP) is debilitating, costly, and often refractory to existing treatments. This secondary analysis aims to pilot-test the hypothesis that mindfulness meditation (MM) can reduce economic burden related to opioid-treated CLBP. Twenty-six-week unblinded pilot randomized controlled trial, comparing MM, adjunctive to usual-care, to usual care alone. Outpatient....
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
June 7, 2016
Aleksandra Zgierska, Cindy A. Burzinski, Jennifer Cox et al.
Objective: Although mindfulness meditation (MM) is increasingly used for chronic pain treatment, limited evidence supports its clinical application for opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP). The goal of this study was to determine feasibility, acceptability, and safety of an MM-based intervention in patients with CLBP requiring daily opioid therapy. Design: 26-week pilot randomized...
Pain Medicine
March 10, 2016
Aleksandra Zgierska, Cindy A. Burzinski, Jennifer Cox et al.
145 citations
OBJECTIVE: To assess benefits of mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based intervention for opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP). DESIGN: 26-week parallel-arm pilot randomized controlled trial (Intervention and Usual Care versus Usual Care alone). SETTING: Outpatient. SUBJECTS: Adults with CLBP, prescribed ≥30 mg/day of morphine-equivalent dose (MED) for at...