Reducing Menopausal Symptoms With Mindfulness-Based Meditation
Barbara Winges Conflitti, Sarah J. Hoffman, Michelle Mathiason
Holistic Nursing Practice March 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1097/hnp.0000000000000633 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post intervention study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Midlife women experiencing menopausal symptoms at a micro practice in Oregon |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based meditation |
| Duration | Intervention from January to May 2022 plus 8-week home practice |
| Measures | Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS), Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Among 20 women, 78% showed improved coping self-efficacy and 89% reported alleviated menopausal symptoms after a brief mindfulness-based meditation intervention with 8-week home practice. Pre-post changes were statistically significant on the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale and Menopausal Rating Scale, and post-intervention coping self-efficacy was negatively correlated with menopausal symptom scores, suggesting symptoms decreased as self-efficacy improved. |
Abstract
Midlife women often experience menopausal symptoms despite being treated according to clinical guidelines. The consequences of not addressing menopausal symptoms holistically are that 55% of women see primary care providers frequently with menopausal symptom complaints. The problem was women's lack of coping strategies to deal with their symptoms effectively. The interventions aimed to (1) develop a protocol to provide point-of-care mindfulness-based meditation intervention as a standard of care, (2) evaluate improvements in coping self-efficacy skills, and (3) demonstrate the intervention's impact on menopausal symptoms. Twenty women participated in a short meditation intervention at a micro practice in Oregon from January to May 2022 and continued an 8-week home practice. Self-reported measures of menopausal symptoms, coping self-efficacy, and demographic data were collected pre- and pos-tprogram. A percentage of women determined improvements, and t tests evaluated differences between pre-and postintervention assessments. Pearson correlation coefficients identified associations between the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS), its subscales, and the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) postintervention. The women showed 78% improved coping self-efficacy and 89% alleviated menopausal symptoms. The t test revealed a statistically significant change between pre- and post-CSES scores (t 17 = 4.19, P < .001) and MRS scores (t 17 = 4.78, P < .001). The post-MRS total score was significantly negatively correlated with the post-CSES score (r = −0.49, P = .039), indicating that symptoms decreased as self-efficacy improved. The outcomes of this project show that menopausal women can cope and alleviate their symptoms with an easy and feasible mindfulness-based meditation intervention.
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
Cites 8
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Mindfulness training for coping with hot flashes Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society March 4, 2011
- Mindfulness meditation experiences of novice practitioners in an online intervention: Trajectories, predictors, and challenges. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being February 1, 2022
- Is there a role for mindfulness-based interventions (here defined as MBCT and MBSR) in facilitating optimal psychological adjustment in the menopause? Post Reproductive Health September 1, 2019
- The effects of mindfulness and relaxation training for insomnia (MRTI) on postmenopausal women: a pilot study. Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society September 2018
and 3 more in the library