Effectiveness of focused meditation for patients with chronic low back pain-A randomized controlled clinical trial

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week meditation program (focused meditation) in patients with chronic low-back pain. Design: A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 68 patients (55 years:75% female) with chronic low-back pain who scored >40 mm on a 100 mm Visual-Analogue-Scale. Subjects were allocated to an 8-week meditation program (focused meditation) with weekly 75 min classes or to a self-care exercise program with a wait-list offer for meditation. Both groups were instructed to practice at home. Outcomes were assessed baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks. The primary outcome measure was the change in mean back pain at rest after 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes included function, pain-related bothersomeness, perceived stress, quality-of-life (QOL), and psychological outcomes. Results: Twelve (meditation) and 4 (exercise) patients were lost to follow-up. The primary outcome, pain at rest after 8 weeks, was reduced from 59.3 +/- 13.9 mm to 40.8 +/- 21.8 mm with meditation vs. 52.9 +/- 11.8 mm to 37.3 +/- 18.2 mm with exercise (adjusted group difference: -1.4 (95%CI:11.6;8.8;p = n.s.) Perceived stress was significantly more reduced with meditation (p=0.011). No significant treatment effects were found for other secondary outcomes as pain-related bothersomeness, function, quality-of-life and psychological scores, although the meditation group consistently showed non-significant better improvements compared to the exercise group. Conclusions: Focused meditation and self-care exercise lead to comparable, symptomatic improvements in patients with chronic low back pain. Future studies should include longer-term follow-ups and develop guided meditation programs to support compliance. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.