Effects of Meditation on Pain and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis and Peripheral Neuropathy
Open accessAbstract
The objective of this study was to determine whether meditation affects pain and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and peripheral neuropathy (PN). A total of 22 patients (10 with MS, 12 with PN) participated in a weekly meditation class over a 2-month period. A total of 18 controls (7 with MS, 11 with PN) received standard care. Primary outcome assessments were based on the 36-item Short Form Health Status Survey (SF-36) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain at baseline and at 2 months. Secondary outcome measures included the Neuropathy Impairment Score (NIS) for PN patients and the Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) questionnaire and 5-item Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS-5) for MS patients. After 2 months, study participants who practiced meditation reported an improvement in pain on the VAS (P = .035 combined group), summed physical health scores on the SF-36 (P = .011 MS, P = .014 PN), summed mental health scores (P = .02 combined group), vitality (P = .005 combined group), and physical role (P = .003 combined group). A significant improvement was also observed for bodily pain (P = .031) in MS patients. In contrast, no significant differences before and after the intervention were observed for controls. Regarding the secondary measure of fatigue, improved scores for the cognitive and psychosocial components of the MFIS were noted in MS patients in the intervention group (P = .037, P = .032). No statistically significant changes were observed in the NIS for PN patients or in PDDS scores for MS patients. Meditation may be helpful in reducing pain and improving quality of life in patients with MS and PN. The lack of changes seen in mobility (MS) and sensorimotor deficits (PN) suggests that meditation may not affect the overall clinical course.
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Shortened class time has been used successfully before in people with multiple sclerosis, multiple sclerosis and peripheral neuropathy, and Parkinson's disease.
“In fact, shortened class time has been used successfully before, for example in people with multiple sclerosis [23], multiple sclerosis and peripheral neuropathy [28], and PD [17].”
From Distant delivery of a mindfulness-based intervention for people with Parkinson's disease: The study protocol of a randomised pilot trial (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
The Methods describe weekly 90-minute meditation classes for participants with multiple sclerosis and peripheral neuropathy, and the Results report improvements in several pain and quality-of-life measures. The paper does not describe the classes as shortened or compare their duration with a longer standard; it also reports a four-hour introductory session. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe correlation between mean effect size and the number of in-class hours is non-significant for both clinical and nonclinical samples.
“It has been found that the correlation between mean effect size and the number of in-class hours is non-significant for both clinical and nonclinical samples, which suggests that adaptations that include less class time may be worthwhile for populations for whom longer time commitment may be a barrier to their ability to participate [28].”
From Distant delivery of a mindfulness-based intervention for people with Parkinson's disease: The study protocol of a randomised pilot trial (2017) · cites this paper as [28]
The Methods and Statistical Analysis sections (page numbers unavailable) describe one meditation trial in patients with multiple sclerosis or peripheral neuropathy, not an analysis across clinical and nonclinical samples. A search for in-class hours and mean effect size found no passage reporting their correlation. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThis finding extends previous research showing that in MS patients MBIs are effective compared with standard care, by showing that a MBI was more effective than a psycho-educational intervention in reducing symptoms of depression.
“This finding extends previous research showing that in MS patients MBIs are effective when compared with standard care (Mills and Allen, 2000; Grossman et al., 2010; Tavee et al., 2011), by showing that a MBI was more effective than a psycho-educational intervention in reducing symptoms of depression.”
From The effectiveness of a body-affective mindfulness intervention for multiple sclerosis patients with depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled clinical trial (2017) · cites this paper as Tavee et al., 2011
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References 16 · Cited by 85
- Authors
- Tavee, J., Rensel, M., Planchon, S. M., Butler, R. S., & Stone, L.
- Affiliations
- Cleveland Clinic (US)
- Venue
- International Journal of MS Care
- Published
- 2011-12-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 163-168
- ISSN
- 1537-2073 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3882962
- OpenAlex
- W1986999777
- Semantic Scholar
- aa3b66ff841d9f2448f7e6aa822cd3ca3614fc96
- Cited by
- 85
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 2.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of MS Care (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- meditation, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, pain, quality of life, fatigue, neuropathic pain, SF-36, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Neuropathy Impairment Score, Patient-Determined Disease Steps, mindfulness-based interventions
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