Meditation for adults with non-specific low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Larissa O Soares, Giovanni E Ferreira, Leonardo O P Costa, Leandro C Nogueira, Ney Meziat-Filho, Felipe J J Reis
Scandinavian Journal of Pain January 27, 2022 DOI: 10.1515/sjpain-2021-0096 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,234 |
| Population | Adults with non-specific low back pain |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Pain |
| Key findings | Moderate-certainty evidence indicates meditation is slightly better than usual care for short-term disability (SMD -0.22) and long-term pain intensity (SMD -0.28), with small effect sizes. No significant differences were found for pain intensity versus minimal intervention or usual care at short and intermediate terms, or for disability versus minimal intervention at intermediate term or usual care at any follow-up. Meditation appeared safe, with most trials reporting no serious adverse events. |
Abstract
We aim to determine the effectiveness of meditation for adults with non-specific low back pain. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PEDro, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO databases for randomized controlled trials that investigated the effectiveness of meditation in adults with non-specific low back pain. Two reviewers rated risk of bias using the PEDro scale and the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach. Primary outcomes were pain intensity and disability. We included eight trials with a total of 1,234 participants. Moderate-certainty evidence shows that meditation is better than usual care for disability at short-term (SMD = -0.22; 95% CI = -0.42 to -0.02). We also found that meditation is better than usual care for pain intensity at long-term (SMD = -0.28; 95% CI = -0.54 to -0.02). There is no significant difference for pain intensity between meditation and minimal intervention or usual care at short and intermediate-term. We did not find differences between meditation and minimal intervention for disability at intermediate-term or usual care in any follow-up period. We found small effect sizes and moderate-certainty evidence that meditation is slightly better than minimal intervention in the short-term for disability. Low-certainty of evidence suggests that meditation is slightly better than usual care for pain in the long-term. Meditation appears to be safe with most trials reporting no serious adverse events.
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 24
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Mindfulness meditation for the treatment of chronic low back pain in older adults: A randomized controlled pilot study ☆ Pain June 4, 2007
- The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review of 44 Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials Perspectives on Psychological Science February 16, 2021
- Mindfulness‐based approaches: are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology January 19, 2011
and 19 more in the library