Evaluating distance education of a mindfulness-based meditation programme for chronic pain management
Jacqueline Gardner-Nix, Stéphanie Backman, Julianna Barbati, Jessica Grummitt
Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare March 1, 2008 DOI: 10.1258/jtt.2007.070811 (opens in new tab)
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA Mindfulness-Based Chronic Pain Management course delivered via videoconferencing to patients at rural hospitals was compared with in-person delivery and a waitlist control. Both delivery modes produced similar improvements in mental health and pain catastrophizing relative to controls. However, the in-person group showed significantly better physical quality of life and lower usual pain ratings than the videoconference group. The findings suggest videoconferencing is an effective alternative for reaching chronic pain patients in rural areas.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental with waitlist control Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 215 |
| Population | Chronic pain patients from two large urban hospitals and rural hospitals in Ontario |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-Based Chronic Pain Management course |
| Duration | 10-week intervention, measures collected over two years |
| Key finding | Mindfulness-Based Chronic Pain Management delivered via videoconferencing improved mental health and pain catastrophizing similarly to in-person delivery, though in-person delivery yielded better physical quality of life and lower pain ratings. |
Abstract
Summary Patients with chronic pain were recruited from two large urban hospitals and from rural hospitals in Ontario. Patients on the waiting list served as controls. The intervention was a Mindfulness-Based Chronic Pain Management course, delivered to patients for two hours per week for 10 weeks. Pre- and postcourse measures of quality of life, pain catastrophizing and usual pain ratings were collected over a period of two years. Patients received the course via traditional face-to-face, in-person teaching (Present site group) or via videoconferencing at their local hospital site (Distant site group). In all, there were 99 Present site participants, 57 at Distant sites and 59 waitlist controls. Patients at Present and Distant sites achieved similar gains in mental health ( P < 0.01) and pain catastrophizing levels ( P < 0.01) relative to controls. However, the Present site group obtained significantly higher scores on the physical dimension of quality of life ( P < 0.01) and lower usual-pain ratings ( P < 0.05) than the Distant site group. The results suggest that videoconferencing is an effective mode of delivery for the Mindfulness course and may represent a new way of helping chronic pain patients in rural areas manage their suffering.