An elderly woman takes a deep breath freed from pain through meditation

Study on meditation as pain therapy

Peter la Cour, Marian Petersen

April 2015

Meditation, Pranayama, and more

The Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen conducted a controlled clinical study to investigate the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on chronic pain.

For this purpose, 109 subjects with non-specific chronic pain were randomly divided into a mindfulness meditation group and a waiting list group.

Pain, physical and mental functions, acceptance of pain and health-related quality of life were measured using SF36.

The data at the start of the study, at the end of the study after two and a half years and six months after the end of the study were compared and a significant difference was found on the SF36 scale. In addition, anxiety and depression decreased, mental quality of life, pain control and pain acceptance increased.

There were no differences in the results immediately after the end of the study and six months later. Standardized mindfulness meditation such as MBSR thus proved to be an effective pain therapy.

The most important information on the study at a glance

Indications: Chronic pain
Institution: Multidisciplinary Pain Center at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
Title: Study on meditation as pain therapy
Brief description: Study shows that mindfulness meditation improves psychological quality of life, pain control & acceptance in chronic pain
Original title: Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Chronic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Link to the study: https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article-abstract/16/4/641/2460516