Mindfulness or meditation therapy for Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Open accessAbstract
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Mindfulness and meditation therapies have been demonstrated as effective alternative treatments for patients with neurological disorders. However, the effects of mindfulness and meditation therapies on PD remain unclear. This meta‐analysis investigated the effects of mindfulness and meditation therapies in PD patients. Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov for randomized controlled trials comparing mindfulness and meditation therapies with control treatments in patients with PD. Results: Nine articles involving eight trials were included, with a total of 337 patients. Our meta‐analysis revealed that mindfulness and meditation therapies significantly improved Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale‐Part III score (mean difference [MD] = −6.31, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = −8.57 to −4.05) and cognitive function (standard mean difference [SMD] = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.23 to 1.02). However, no significant differences were discovered between mindfulness therapies and control in gait velocity (MD = 0.05, 95% CI = −0.23 to 0.34), Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire‐39 Summary Index (MD = 0.51, 95% CI = −1.12 to 2.14), activities of daily living (SMD = −1.65, 95% CI = −3.74 to 0.45), depression (SMD = −0.43, 95% CI = −0.97 to 0.11), anxiety (SMD = −0.80, 95% CI = −1.78 to 0.19), pain (SMD = 0.79, 95% CI = −1.06 to 2.63), or sleep disturbance (SMD = −0.67, 95% CI = −1.58 to 0.24). Conclusion: Mindfulness and meditation therapies may serve as complementary and alternative treatments for PD patients.
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Published systematic reviews have examined a variety of outcomes in people with PD but have not focused on specific third-wave psychotherapies.
“Published systematic reviews have examined a variety of outcomes in people with PD, but have not focused on specific third-wave psychotherapies.”
From A Systematic Review of Third-Wave Therapies to Reduce Distress and Improve Wellbeing and Quality of Life in People with Parkinson's Disease. (2025) · cites this paper as Lin et al. (2023)
The Introduction (page unavailable) says this paper conducts a systematic review and meta-analysis specifically of mindfulness or meditation therapy for people with Parkinson’s disease. Its Strengths and limitations section calls it the first such systematic review and meta-analysis. Although it describes earlier reviews of other treatments, the cited paper itself is a counterexample to the claim that published systematic reviews have not focused on a specific therapy of this kind. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLin et al. (2023) concluded that mindfulness and meditation therapies might be useful as complementary therapies for individuals with PD.
“They concluded that mindfulness and meditation therapies might be useful as complementary therapies for individuals with PD.”
From A Systematic Review of Third-Wave Therapies to Reduce Distress and Improve Wellbeing and Quality of Life in People with Parkinson's Disease. (2025) · cites this paper as Lin et al. (2023)
Lin et al. (2023) explored the effects of mindfulness and meditation therapies and discovered significant changes in PD outcomes.
“Similarly, Lin et al. (2023) explored the effects of mindfulness and meditation therapies and discovered significant changes in PD outcomes.”
From A Systematic Review of Third-Wave Therapies to Reduce Distress and Improve Wellbeing and Quality of Life in People with Parkinson's Disease. (2025) · cites this paper as Lin et al. (2023)
In Lin et al. (2023), there were no significant differences between mindfulness intervention and control groups in terms of depression, anxiety, pain, or difficulty sleeping.
“Yet, there were no significant differences between mindfulness intervention and control groups in terms of depression, anxiety, pain, or difficulty sleeping.”
From A Systematic Review of Third-Wave Therapies to Reduce Distress and Improve Wellbeing and Quality of Life in People with Parkinson's Disease. (2025) · cites this paper as Lin et al. (2023)
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
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“Similarly, Lin et al. (2023) explored the effects of mindfulness and meditation therapies and discovered significant changes in PD outcomes.”
- Authors
- Lin, H., Tam, K., & Kuan, Y.
- Affiliations
- Taipei Medical University (TW)
- Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital (TW)
- National Taiwan University (TW)
- Corresponding author
- Kuan, Yi‐Chun
- Venue
- European Journal of Neurology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2023-05-21
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 2250-2260
- ISSN
- 1351-5101 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-1331
- OpenAlex
- W4375955067
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Neurology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
- Keywords
- Parkinson's disease, mindfulness therapy, meditation therapy, complementary and alternative medicine, motor function, cognitive function, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, pain, activities of daily living
- MeSH terms
- Activities of Daily Living, Humans, Parkinson Disease, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Meditation, Mindfulness
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