Does Mindfulness-based meditation improve the psychosocial well-being among patients with chronic pain conditions? A pilot study from Chennai
N. Pradeep, S. Kannan, V. Gopichandran
April 1, 2020 DOI: 10.4103/cmi.cmi_14_20 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA two-week mindfulness-based meditation program, guided by an audio recording, was associated with a statistically significant reduction of 11.6 units in overall Brief Pain Inventory scores among 15 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The improvement was driven by significant gains in psychosocial wellbeing rather than by a reduction in pain intensity itself. The findings suggest that mindfulness-based meditation may serve as a useful adjunct to standard pain management protocols for this population.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental pre-post comparison study Pilot study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based meditation |
| Duration | 2-week intervention |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Key finding | Mindfulness-based meditation significantly improved psychosocial wellbeing but not pain intensity in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. |
Abstract
Background: Mindfulness-based meditation has been shown to reduce stress and even reduce pain in chronic pain conditions. Objective: To study the effect of mindfulness-based meditation on pain and psychosocial wellbeing among patients living with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions. Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental pre-post comparison study among 15 patients suffering from various musculoskeletal chronic pain conditions to assess the impact of mindfulness-based meditation on chronic pain. The participants were given an audio recording which gives specific instructions about the method of practicing the mindfulness-based meditation for a period of 2 weeks. The Brief Pain Inventory was used to measure pain and associated psycho-social wellbeing at baseline and after two weeks of the practice of meditation. The scores on the inventory were compared before and after the meditation using the paired sample t test. Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in the overall Brief Pain Inventory score of 11.6 units (95% CI= 8.2 to 15.0; P < 0.05). The reduction in score was not significant in the pain subscale but was significant in the psycho-social wellbeing subscale. Conclusions: Mindfulness-based meditation can be a useful adjuvant to pain management protocols in patients living with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions.