"I felt like a new person." the effects of mindfulness meditation on older adults with chronic pain: qualitative narrative analysis of diary entries.
To identify the effects of mindfulness meditation on older adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP), we conducted a qualitative study based on grounded theory and used content analysis of diary entries from older adults who had participated in a clinical trial of an 8-week mindfulness meditation program. Participants were 27 adults > or = 65 years of age with CLBP of at least moderate severity and of at least 3 months duration. We found several themes reflecting the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation on pain, attention, sleep, and achieving well-being. Various methods of pain reduction were used, including distraction, increased body awareness leading to behavior change, better pain coping, and direct pain reduction through meditation. Participants described improved attention skills. A number of participants reported improved sleep latency as well as quality of sleep. Participants described achieving well-being during and after a meditation session that had immediate effects on mood elevation but also long-term global effects on improved quality of life. Several themes were identified related to pain reduction, improved attention, improved sleep, and achieving well-being resulting from mindfulness meditation that suggest it has promising potential as a nonpharmacologic treatment of chronic pain for older adults.


CONCLUSIONS
Community-dwelling older adults with chronic low back pain experience numerous benefits from mindfulness meditation including less pain, improved attention, better sleep, enhanced well-being, and improved quality of life. Additional research is needed to determine how mindfulness meditation works and how it might help with other chronic illnesses.
Morone
Natalia E
NE
Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. moronene@upmc.edu
Lynch
Cheryl S
CS
Greco
Carol M
CM
Tindle
Hilary A
HA
Weiner
Debra K
DK
D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome