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Cited by 431Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsCancer survivorship and careReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health-related quality of life in a heterogeneous patient population

Open access
Reibel, Diane K, Greeson, Jeffrey M, Brainard, George C, Rosenzweig, Steven·2001·General Hospital Psychiatry
DOI 10.1016/s0163-8343(01)00149-9
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Abstract

This study examined the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on health-related quality of life and physical and psychological symptomatology in a heterogeneous patient population. Patients (n=136) participated in an 8-week MBSR program and were required to practice 20 min of meditation daily. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected by using the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Medical Symptom Checklist (MSCL) and Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R). Health-related quality of life was enhanced as demonstrated by improvement on all indices of the SF-36, including vitality, bodily pain, role limitations caused by physical health, and social functioning (all P<.01). Alleviation of physical symptoms was revealed by a 28% reduction on the MSCL (P<.0001). Decreased psychological distress was indicated on the SCL-90-R by a 38% reduction on the Global Severity Index, a 44% reduction on the anxiety subscale, and a 34% reduction on the depression subscale (all P<.0001). One-year follow-up revealed maintenance of initial improvements on several outcome parameters. We conclude that a group mindfulness meditation training program can enhance functional status and well-being and reduce physical symptoms and psychological distress in a heterogeneous patient population and that the intervention may have long-term beneficial effects.

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  • Mindfulness training increases subjective quality of life.

    “subjective quality of life (Reibel et al., 2001; Shapiro et al., 2005; Nyklícek and Kuijpers, 2008; Fang et al., 2010)”

    From Mindfulness Training Alters Emotional Memory Recall Compared to Active Controls: Support for an Emotional Information Processing Model of Mindfulness (2012) · cites this paper as Reibel et al., 2001

    The Discussion reports significant improvements in health-related quality of life after an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program among patients with chronic health problems. But the study was observational, and the authors say they cannot determine how much of the improvement was due to mindfulness training alone. The unqualified causal wording therefore goes beyond the source. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • The 2/3 response rate is comparable to open trials in similar academic medical settings.

    “The 2/3 response rate, however, is comparable to open trials in similar academic medical settings [43–45].”

    From Mindfulness Meditation Targets Transdiagnostic Symptoms Implicated in Stress-Related Disorders: Understanding Relationships between Changes in Mindfulness, Sleep Quality, and Physical Symptoms (2018) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Methods describe a prospective observational clinical trial with open enrollment, so this paper is an example of an open trial. It does not report a two-thirds response rate: the Discussion reports a 30% response to its one-year follow-up survey, and the outcome and exit-survey sections give other counts. The cited paper therefore supports the type of study used for comparison, but not the claimed numerical comparison. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Randomized clinical trials confirmed the positive effect of meditation and showed significant reduction in psychological morbidity associated with mental illness and decreased stress level, resulting in increased emotional well-being.

    “According to Bishop [3], randomized clinical trials confirmed the positive effect of meditation and provide encouraging results with patients showing a significant reduction in psychological morbidity associated with mental illness [47–49] and a decrease in stress level, resulting in increased emotional well-being.”

    From Mindful emotion regulation: Exploring the neurocognitive mechanisms behind mindfulness (2015) · cites this paper as [48]

    The Discussion reports randomized MBSR trials with reductions in depression and anxiety among chronic-pain patients and in mood disturbance and stress symptoms among cancer outpatients. But this paper’s own study was observational, and the Discussion says it is unknown how much of the improvement was due to meditation alone. It does not establish that reduced stress caused increased emotional well-being in patients with mental illness. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [7]7. J. Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness Meditation: What It Is, What It Isn't and Its Role in Health Care and Medicine. In: Y. Haruki and M. Suzuki, Editors, Comparative and Psychological Study on Meditation, Eburon, Delft, Netherlands (1996), pp. 161-170.

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Authors
Reibel, D. K., Greeson, J. M., Brainard, G. C., & Rosenzweig, S.
Affiliations
Thomas Jefferson University (US)
Corresponding author
Reibel, Diane K
ORCID
Venue
General Hospital Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-07
Volume
23
Issue
4
Pages
183-192
ISSN
0163-8343 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0163-8343(01)00149-9
OpenAlex
W2141953156
Cited by
431
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 19
FWCI
12.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • General Hospital Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • The Medicine Forum (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
Keywords
mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness meditation, health-related quality of life, somatic symptoms, psychological distress, anxiety, depression, symptom maintenance, heterogeneous patient populations, group intervention, well-being
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Compliance, Population Surveillance, Prospective Studies, Psychotherapy, Quality of Life, Stress, Psychological, Health Behavior, Meditation

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