The Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials
Jonathan Dang, Luma Bashmi, Stephen Meeneghan, Janet White, Rebecca Hedrick, Jelena Djurovic, Brigitte Vanle, Dennis Nguyen, Jonathan Almendarez, Paula Ravets, Yasmine Gohar, Sophia Hanna, Itai Danovitch, Waguih William Ishak
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine June 25, 2018 DOI: 10.21926/obm.icm.1802011 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with major depressive disorder or depression comorbid with medical conditions |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) |
| Duration | Posttreatment (8 weeks) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | The authors conclude that MBSR, MBCT, and mindfulness interventions modeled on these protocols are efficacious for depressive symptoms, alone or as adjunctive therapy, in patients with major depressive disorder or depression comorbid with medical conditions. Across 16 randomized controlled trials, these interventions were reported to improve depressive symptoms and quality of life at 8 weeks compared with usual care, waitlist control, active controls, and antidepressants. |
Abstract
Background: An increasing number of patients and practitioners are using mindfulness meditation programs despite uncertainty about the evidence supporting these programs’ health benefits.
Aim: To review the current evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) on depressive symptoms and quality of life (QOL) among patients with depression comorbid medical conditions and those with major depressive disorder.
Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and PsycINFO was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for the past 30 years (1987-2017) published in English. The following keywords were used: meditation, QOL, depression, and mindfulness. Based on the consensus of two reviewers, 16 studies were selected for inclusion in this study.
Results: We included randomized controlled trials that utilized mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and other programs that based on MBSR and MBCT protocols. Overall, these interventions showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms and Quality of Life (QOL) at posttreatment (8 weeks) compared to usual care, waitlist-control, active control (psycho-education, exercise, and muscle relaxation), and evidence-based treatment (antidepressants). The interventions were found to be useful, especially among patients with depression dealing with chronic pain, cancer, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and insomnia.
Conclusions: MBSR, MBCT, and mindfulness interventions that modeled MBSR/MBCT appear efficacious as a treatment for depressive symptoms (alone and adjunctive therapy) among patients suffering from depression comorbid medical conditions, and those with major depressive disorder.
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 29
- What Do We Really Know About Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction? Psychosomatic Medicine 2002
- A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations Psychological Medicine November 27, 2009
- Defining mindfulness by how poorly I think I pay attention during everyday awareness and other intractable problems for psychology's (re)invention of mindfulness: Comment on Brown et al. (2011). Psychological Assessment 2011
- Mindfulness‐based approaches: are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology January 19, 2011
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy as a treatment for chronic depression: A preliminary study Behaviour Research and Therapy February 13, 2009
and 24 more in the library