Global advances in integrative medicine and health
January 1, 2024
Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez, Benjamin C. Nephew, Justin J Polcari et al.
3 citations
African American/Black participants with chronic pain and depression who took part in Integrative Medical Group Visits (IMGV) showed reduced pain severity from baseline to 9 weeks, a change not seen in White participants. However, White participants experienced reduced pain severity from 9 to 21 weeks, while African American/Black participants showed no significant change during that later period. At baseline, African American/Black participants had higher pain severity and differed in age, work status, and comorbidities. The findings suggest race-based differences in response to mindfulness-based integrative treatments, highlighting the need for further investigation into how such heterogeneity relates to health disparities.
Frontiers in Public Health
January 1, 2025
Richa Gawande, Felipe Kalatauma Rosario, Carlos Santiago et al.
1 citation
A community-based peer-led mindfulness intervention called Mandela Yoga, co-developed by Black and Brown yoga teachers, therapists, and community leaders with lived experience of recovery, incarceration, chronic illness, and racism, was implemented as part of a Federally Qualified Health Center reentry program for men of color recently released from incarceration. A qualitative analysis of a 12-week implementation documented attendance and conducted interviews with the peer facilitator and one participant. Four key themes emerged: breath and mind-body connection leading to presence; consistency; peer connection; and agency and positive action. Mandela Yoga shows promise as a mind-body-community intervention for communities of color in recovery and post-incarceration.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2025
Diane Joss, Joseph Rosansky, Paula Gardiner et al.
1 citation
Among people with opioid use disorder receiving buprenorphine, those who also took part in a 24-week online mindfulness-based intervention showed a specific chain of symptom improvement linked to their history of adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Higher ACE severity was associated with greater reductions in self-critical rumination by week 8, which then predicted reduced pain catastrophizing by week 16, and less pain interference by week 24. This pathway was not seen in a matched recovery support control group. Both groups experienced significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and other symptoms, but only in the mindfulness group did ACE severity predict changes in self-critical rumination, suggesting this may be a key target for treatment.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
March 2, 2023
Alberto Barceló-soler, Héctor Morillo-Sarto, Selene Fernández-martínez et al.
Third-wave psychotherapies that emphasize mindfulness, compassion, and acceptance are effective for chronic pain, but they typically require patients to practice meditation at home. A systematic review of 31 quantitative studies found that patients practiced around four days per week on average, though the amount of time spent varied widely. Most studies linked greater home practice to better health outcomes. The most common interventions, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, showed low adherence: patients completed only 39.6% of the recommended practice time. Adolescents practiced very few minutes, and eHealth interventions had mixed adherence. Adaptations may help chronic pain patients engage more easily and effectively in home meditation practice.
Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.)
October 1, 2020
Michael P Berry, Jacqueline Lutz, Zev Schuman-Olivier et al.
A brief self-compassion training (eight contact hours plus two weeks of home practice) reduced clinical pain intensity and disability and increased trait self-compassion and interoceptive awareness in people with chronic low back pain. Brain imaging showed that after training, evoked pressure pain response decreased in the right temporo-parietal junction, and pain anticipation responses increased in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventral posterior cingulate cortex. These brain changes were associated with improvements in self-compassion and body awareness. The authors argue that self-compassion may help regulate pain through self-referential, salience-processing, and emotion regulatory brain areas, but note that controlled studies are needed to confirm specificity.
Akshit Soota, Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez, Benjamin C. Nephew et al.
preprint
Machine learning applied to data from a clinical trial of mindfulness for chronic low back pain identified distinct phenotypes that predict who will respond to the intervention. Among 132 participants in the mindfulness arm, 49 were responders and 83 were non-responders. The top three responder phenotypes correctly identified 26 of the 49 responders with 92-100% precision, and the top three non-responder phenotypes identified 36 of the 83 non-responders with 100% precision. These results may help clinicians and patients decide whether mindfulness is likely to be beneficial, improving treatment efficiency and outcomes.