title: Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic pain patients increasingly seek treatment through mindfulness meditation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to synthesize evidence on efficacy and safety of mindfulness meditation interventions for the treatment of chronic pain in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic review on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with meta-analyses using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for random-effects models. Quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. Outcomes included pain, depression, quality of life, and analgesic use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-eight RCTs met inclusion criteria; seven reported on safety. We found low-quality evidence that mindfulness meditation is associated with a small decrease in pain compared with all types of controls in 30 RCTs. Statistically significant effects were also found for depression symptoms and quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While mindfulness meditation improves pain and depression symptoms and quality of life, additional well-designed, rigorous, and large-scale RCTs are needed to decisively provide estimates of the efficacy of mindfulness meditation for chronic pain.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA. hilton@rand.org.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2375-8810
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hilton
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hempel
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Brett A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Ewing
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Apaydin
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xenakis
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Sydne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Newberry
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Colaiaco
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Alicia Ruelaz
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Roberta M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Shanman
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Melony E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sorbero
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Maglione
mesh_terms: D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Chronic pain; Meditation; Mindfulness; Systematic review