Mindfulness may ease pain, psychological symptoms in veterans with chronic pain

A mindfulness-based intervention delivered via telehealth may be effective at improving pain-related function in U.S. veterans with chronic pain.

In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers randomly assigned 811 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain to undergo a group or self-paced mindfulness-based intervention or usual care.

After following up one year later, the researchers found that the veterans in the mindfulness-based intervention groups experienced greater improvements in their pain-related function, pain intensity, physical function, anxiety, fatigue, sleep disturbance, social roles and activities, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder compared with those in the usual care group.

The researchers concluded that the novel mindfulness-based intervention may help accelerate the implementation of nonpharmacologic therapy in patients with chronic pain.

Read more: JAMA Internal Medicine

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