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Mindfulness for palliative care patients. Systematic review
Carolina de Oliveira Cruz Latorraca1,2, Ana Luiza Cabrera Martimbianco2, Daniela Vianna Pachito1
1Evidence Based Health Program, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
International Journal of Clinical Practice
|November 7, 2017
Summary
Mindfulness meditation shows limited effectiveness in palliative care, with only a 5-minute session demonstrating a potential benefit for stress reduction. However, studies had high risk of bias and did not evaluate safety outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Evidence-Based Medicine
Background:
- Millions of adults require palliative care globally, yet many do not receive effective symptom management.
- Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life for patients facing life-limiting illnesses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of mindfulness meditation interventions for patients receiving palliative care.
- To synthesize evidence from randomized clinical trials on mindfulness meditation in palliative care settings.
Main Methods:
- A systematic search of multiple databases (CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, etc.) was conducted.
- Four randomized clinical trials (RCTs) involving 234 participants were included in the review.
- Risk of bias and quality of evidence were assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias tools and GRADE methodology.
Main Results:
- Only two of the four RCTs reported statistically significant differences for any outcome.
- One study indicated a benefit for mindfulness meditation in reducing perceived stress.
- Another study found a statistically significant difference favoring the control group for quality of life (physical aspects).
Conclusions:
- Mindfulness meditation demonstrated limited effectiveness in palliative care patients, with inconsistent results across studies.
- A single 5-minute mindfulness session showed potential for stress reduction, but the study had a high risk of bias.
- Overall evidence quality was low to very low, and safety outcomes were not analyzed.
