A controlled study of the effect of a mindfulness-based stress reduction technique in women with multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on women diagnosed with conditions such as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: The intervention group underwent a 10-week MBSR program. Symptoms Checklist Inventory (SCL-90R) was used as outcome measure and was administered before the start of the program (pre-), immediately upon completion (post-) and at three-month follow-up. Women on the wait list to receive treatment at the Nova Scotia Environmental Health Centre were used as control subjects for the study. RESULTS: A total of 50 participants in the intervention group and 26 in the wait-list controls group were recruited for this study. Global scores in the intervention group reached statistical significance pre-post (<0.0001) and at pre-follow-up (<0.0001) while the global scores in the control group remained the same. Five of nine and eight of nine subscales of the SCL-90R showed improvement of statistical significance in MBSR group following treatment and at three-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed the importance of complementary interventions such as MBSR techniques in the reduction of psychological distress in women with chronic conditions.
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A Canadian study showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction decreased symptoms in PPS, including chemical intolerance and prolonged fatigue.
“A Canadian study showed that mindfulnessbased stress reduction decreased symptoms in PPS, including chemical intolerance and prolonged fatigue [32].”
From Work Ability and Functioning Among Individuals with Persistent Indoor Environment-Related Symptoms or Chronic Fatigue: Nine-Month Follow-Up of a Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial. (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
The Abstract Methods and Results report that women with multiple chemical sensitivity and chronic fatigue syndrome received MBSR and improved on the SCL-90R symptom checklist. The Abstract Conclusions specify reduced psychological distress; the copy does not show that chemical intolerance or prolonged fatigue themselves decreased. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Sampalli, T.
- Affiliations
- Nova Scotia Health Authority (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Sampalli, Tara
- ORCID
- Sampalli, Tara
- Venue
- Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-04
- Volume
- 2
- Pages
- 53
- ISSN
- 1178-2390 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3004557
- OpenAlex
- W1963845951
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 3.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Keywords
- mindfulness-based stress reduction, multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, psychological distress, women, complementary interventions, chronic disease
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