Effectiveness of mindfulness meditation on pain and quality of life of patients with chronic low back pain.
Sudha Banth, Maryam Didehdar Ardebil
International Journal of Yoga January 1, 2015 DOI: 10.4103/0973-6131.158476 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) combined with usual medical care reduced pain severity and improved physical and mental quality of life more than usual medical care alone in female patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain. Patients who completed eight sessions of meditation reported significantly lower pain and better quality of life at the end of the intervention and at a four-week follow-up. The results indicate that MBSR, which includes body scan, sitting, and walking meditation, is an effective mind-body therapy for this population.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 88 |
| Population | Female patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based stress reduction |
| Duration | 8-week intervention, 4-week follow-up |
| Keywords | Sf-12 Pain Quality of life |
| Key finding | MBSR plus usual medical care significantly reduced pain severity and improved physical and mental quality of life compared to usual medical care alone in female patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain. |
Abstract
Recovery of patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) is depended on several physical and psychological factors. Therefore, the authors aimed to examine the efficacy of mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) as a mind-body intervention on quality of life and pain severity of female patients with nonspecific chronic LBP (NSCLBP). Eighty-eight patients diagnosed as NSCLBP by physician and randomly assigned to experimental (MBSR+ usual medical care) and the control group (usual medical care only). The subjects assessed in 3 times frames; before, after and 4 weeks after intervention by Mac Gil pain and standard brief quality of life scales. Data obtained from the final sample analyzed by ANCOVA using SPSS software. The findings showed MBSR was effective in reduction of pain severity and the patients who practiced 8 sessions meditation reported significantly lower pain than patients who only received usual medical care. There was a significant effect of the between subject factor group (F [1, 45] = 16.45, P < 0.001) and (F [1, 45] = 21.51, P < 0.001) for physical quality of life and (F [1, 45] = 13.80, P < 0.001) and (F [1, 45] = 25.07, P < 0.001) mental quality of life respectively. MBSR as a mind-body therapy including body scan, sitting and walking meditation was effective intervention on reduction of pain severity and improvement of physical and mental quality of life of female patients with NSCLBP.