Effectiveness of mindfulness meditation on balance, cognitive functions, quality of life, and falls prevention in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review.
Purani Bogahawatta, Ashan Wijekoon, Thameesha Harini, Asha H Wettasinghe
Neuropsychological rehabilitation September 7, 2026 DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2026.2725697 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Parkinson’s disease Falls prevention Mobility |
| Key findings | Mindfulness meditation improved anxiety, depression, and quality of life in Parkinson's disease, but evidence for motor, physical, and cognitive outcomes was inconsistent or limited. Falls-related outcomes were not evaluated. |
Abstract
Scientific interest in mindfulness meditation as complementary therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) has grown significantly. This systematic review examined mindfulness meditation effects on PD motor, cognitive, falls-related (fear of falling (FoF), freezing of gait (FoG), falls prevention), psychological (anxiety and depression), physical (balance, mobility, gait velocity), and quality of life (QoL) outcomes. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Web of Science, PEDro, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted from database inception to May 2026. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Fourteen studies met inclusion criteria: nine randomized controlled trials and five pre-post design studies. Following mindfulness meditation interventions: (1) Robust improvements were observed in anxiety symptoms; (2) Significant improvements were reported in depression and QoL; (3) Motor symptom improvements were inconsistent with limited evidence; (4) Findings on physical function outcomes, including balance and mobility, provided limited evidence of benefit, while one study demonstrated reduced gait speed; (5) Cognitive function improvements were mixed with benefits in specific domains but inconsistent general results; (6) Falls, FoF, and FoG were not evaluated despite clinical significance. There is a critical need for rigorously designed studies emphasizing motor outcomes and falls prevention to inform clinical practice.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cites 25
- A qualitative analysis of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in Parkinson's disease Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice October 20, 2009
- Prevalence of meditation-related adverse effects in a population-based sample in the United States Psychotherapy Research June 2, 2021
- Neurobiological Changes Induced by Mindfulness and Meditation: A Systematic Review. Biomedicines November 15, 2024
- The Neural Mechanisms of Meditative Practices: Novel Approaches for Healthy Aging Current behavioral neuroscience reports October 18, 2016
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review BMC Neurology May 15, 2017
and 20 more in the library