Effects of meditation on pain and quality of life in multiple sclerosis and peripheral neuropathy: a pilot study.
International Journal of MS Care 2011 DOI: 10.7224/1537-2073-13.4.163 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled clinical study (non-randomized, with standard-care control group) Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Adults with multiple sclerosis (10 intervention, 7 control) or peripheral neuropathy (12 intervention, 11 control) |
| Duration | 2-month intervention with assessment at baseline and 2 months |
| Measures | 36-item Short Form Health Status Survey (SF-36), visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, Neuropathy Impairment Score (NIS), Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) questionnaire, 5-item Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS-5) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Patients with MS or PN who practiced meditation for two months reported reduced pain and improved quality of life compared with controls receiving standard care, with significant improvements in SF-36 physical and mental health, vitality, and physical role scores. No significant changes occurred in neuropathy impairment or MS disease-step measures, suggesting meditation may not affect overall clinical course. |
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine whether meditation affects pain and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and peripheral neuropathy (PN). A total of 22 patients (10 with MS, 12 with PN) participated in a weekly meditation class over a 2-month period. A total of 18 controls (7 with MS, 11 with PN) received standard care. Primary outcome assessments were based on the 36-item Short Form Health Status Survey (SF-36) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain at baseline and at 2 months. Secondary outcome measures included the Neuropathy Impairment Score (NIS) for PN patients and the Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) questionnaire and 5-item Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS-5) for MS patients. After 2 months, study participants who practiced meditation reported an improvement in pain on the VAS (P = .035 combined group), summed physical health scores on the SF-36 (P = .011 MS, P = .014 PN), summed mental health scores (P = .02 combined group), vitality (P = .005 combined group), and physical role (P = .003 combined group). A significant improvement was also observed for bodily pain (P = .031) in MS patients. In contrast, no significant differences before and after the intervention were observed for controls. Regarding the secondary measure of fatigue, improved scores for the cognitive and psychosocial components of the MFIS were noted in MS patients in the intervention group (P = .037, P = .032). No statistically significant changes were observed in the NIS for PN patients or in PDDS scores for MS patients. Meditation may be helpful in reducing pain and improving quality of life in patients with MS and PN. The lack of changes seen in mobility (MS) and sensorimotor deficits (PN) suggests that meditation may not affect the overall clinical course.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 17
- Meditation as an Adjunct to the Management of Multiple Sclerosis Neurology Research International 2014
- Potential treatment mechanisms in a mindfulness‐based intervention for people with progressive multiple sclerosis British Journal of Health Psychology May 30, 2016
- The Effectiveness of a Body-Affective Mindfulness Intervention for Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Frontiers in Psychology November 30, 2017
- Distant delivery of a mindfulness-based intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease: the study protocol of a randomised pilot trial Pilot and Feasibility Studies January 16, 2017
- Psychologically based interventions for adults with chronic neuropathic pain: a scoping review. Pain Medicine May 3, 2024
and 12 more in the library
Cites 6
- A non-elaborative mental stance and decoupling of executive and pain-related cortices predicts low pain sensitivity in Zen meditators. Pain 2011
- MS quality of life, depression, and fatigue improve after mindfulness training: a randomized trial. Neurology September 1, 2010
- Meditation experience predicts less negative appraisal of pain: electrophysiological evidence for the involvement of anticipatory neural responses. Pain September 2010
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cancer: a meta-analysis. Psycho-Oncology June 2009
- Usefulness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for treating insomnia in patients with anxiety disorders: a pilot study. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 2008
and 1 more in the library