Mindfulness is effective for chronic pain, studies show
Group mindfulness interventions are just as effective as cognitive behavioural therapy for helping patients with chronic pain, a review suggests.
Canadian researchers analysed 13 studies that compared CBT with controls, seven studies that compared mindfulness-based stress reduction with controls, and one that compared the two interventions.
The CBT studies and mindfulness studies had similar results for physical functioning (40% vs 42% improvement), pain intensity (37% vs 35%) and depression (44% vs 49%).
The single head-to-head study found no significant difference in effect on functioning or pain, but did find that CBT produced greater improvement for depressive symptoms.