Mindfulness-based pain management for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a randomized controlled trial

Chronic pain is a significant global public health challenge. There is substantial evidence supporting the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain. Mindfulness-Based Pain Management (MBPM) is an 8-week mindfulness-based behavioral intervention program designed to help individuals manage chronic pain. However, the available evidence regarding the effects of the MBPM program in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain is limited.

Adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain were randomly assigned to either the MBPM program group or the waiting-list control group. The MBPM program group received 150 min sessions once a week for eight weeks in addition to usual care. The waiting-list control group only received usual care. The primary outcome was pain acceptance, measured using the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) at week 8. Secondary outcomes included pain acceptance at week 26, as well as pain intensity, pain-related disability, health-related quality of life, psychological well-being, pain self-efficacy, mindfulness, self-compassion, and adverse events at weeks 8 and 26.

Forty participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the MBPM program group (n = 20) or the waiting-list control group (n = 20). For the primary outcome, the MBPM program group had a more favorable CPAQ total score at week 8 than the control group (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.4 to 16.3; mean difference (MD) = 7.9; p = 0.063). However, this difference was not statistically significant. Among the secondary outcomes, the MBPM program group had higher self-compassion scores at week 8 (MD = 0.3; 95%-CI: 0.0 to 0.6; p = 0.035), and higher mindful awareness score at week 26 (MD = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.66; p = 0.028) than the control group. No statistically significant differences between the two groups were observed for the other secondary outcomes. No intervention-related adverse events were reported.

In this randomized controlled trial, the MBPM program did not demonstrate a statistically significant effect on pain acceptance compared with the waiting-list control. Nevertheless, between-group comparisons favored MBPM for self-compassion at week 8, and mindful awareness at week 26. However, these findings require confirmation and should be interpreted exploratory. Larger and methodologically rigorous trials with longer follow-up periods are warranted to further evaluate the effectiveness of MBPM for individuals with chronic pain.Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT05199805.