Published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Here is a link to the article.
Regenstrief Institute author: Marianne S. Matthias, PhD
This randomized clinical trial evaluated two scalable, telehealth-based mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs)—group and self-paced—for veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain, comparing them to usual care. Conducted across three Veterans Affairs sites, 811 participants were enrolled from November 2020 to May 2022, with follow-up through August 2023.
Both 8-week MBIs, delivered via videoconference or asynchronously with minimal facilitator support, significantly improved pain-related function (primary outcome) and a range of biopsychosocial measures including pain intensity, physical function, depression, fatigue, and PTSD symptoms, compared to usual care. The improvements were consistent across 10 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year.
There was no significant difference in outcomes between the group and self-paced formats. Notably, the self-paced MBI showed greater likelihood of 30% functional improvement at all time points.
These findings support the use of low-resource, telehealth MBIs as effective, scalable nonpharmacological treatments for chronic pain in veterans and potentially broader populations.
Authors:
Affiliations
1VA Health Systems Research Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.
3VA Health Systems Research Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, North Carolina.
4Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
5Integrative Health & Wellbeing Research Program, Center for Spirituality & Healing, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
6VA Health Systems Research Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy, Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System, Los Angeles, California.
7VA Health Systems Research Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.
8Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana.
9Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
10Women’s Health Sciences Division, VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Boston, Massachusetts.
11Department of Psychology, College of Life Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.
12Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
13Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles.
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