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Cortica

Articles

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2025): Les neurosciences de l'éducation au service du grand public

The Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programs on Fibromyalgia Patients’ Quality of Life - A Meta-Analysis

  • Déborah Maret
  • Katharina Ledermann
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26034/cortica.2025.7025
Submitted
March 7, 2025
Published
2025-03-21

Abstract

This study assessed the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs on improving the quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate patients' quality of life immediately after treatment, followed by an examination of descriptive data to observe potential long-term effects of the intervention. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in November 2023 across PubMed, PsycInfo, Ovid-Medline, and MEDLINE-EBSCO to identify randomized and non-randomized controlled trials comparing MBSR programs to control conditions. The primary outcome of interest was quality of life, with measurements taken at post-intervention and follow-up. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted and calculated. A random-effects model was used to compute the overall effect size at post-intervention. Eight studies were included in the meta-analysis, with five studies contributing data on the long-term effects of MBSR. The meta-analysis revealed a significant small to medium effect of MBSR on quality of life (SMD = 0.38; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.53; p < 0.0001). However, the overall risk of bias was high, with only two studies categorized as having a low risk of bias. No conclusive evidence regarding long-term effects was found, though a general trend of decreasing efficacy of MBSR over time was observed. MBSR is an effective treatment for improving quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia, particularly in the short term. Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of MBSR and to address the potential risk of bias in existing studies.

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