CBT is the standard psychological treatment for chronic pain and has demonstrated modest short-term benefits for improving pain, affect, and function of chronic lower back pain. Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has also yielded positive results when applied to chronic low back pain. Until now, limited research has compared the long-term effectiveness of MBT and CBT for opioid-treated chronic low back pain.
In the current study, researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial of 770 adults with opioid-treated chronic low back pain from three sites: Madison, Wisconsin; Boston, Massachusetts; and Salt Lake City, Utah. On average, participants experienced moderate-severe pain, functional limitations, compromised quality of life, and had numerous prior treatments.
In the present trial, they underwent 8 weeks of therapist-led CBT or MBT group sessions. The participants were told to practice what they had learned by themselves for 30 minutes per day, six days per week over 12 months. They were not told to reduce their opioid dosage.
Ultimately, participants from both groups experienced improved symptoms including improved pain, physical function, and quality of life, as well as reduced daily opioid dose. Both interventions produced similar results.
"These therapies aren't a total cure, but they teach people how to develop the inner resources they need to cope with chronic pain and to live a better life," senior author of the study, Eric Garland, endowed professor in health sciences and professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego, said in a press release.
"Mindfulness is a self-regulated tool that comes from within, unlike surgery or medication where something is being done to you from the outside. By learning these techniques, patients continue to experience lasting benefit," he added.
Sources: Science Daily, JAMA Network Open