Mindfulness Training among Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: Neurobehavioral Effects

Abstract

Objective. To investigate possible neurobehavioral changes secondary to a mindfulness based intervention (MBI) training for individuals living with Parkinson's disease (PD). Background. In the context of complementary medicine, MBIs are increasingly being used for stress reduction and in patient populations coping with chronic illness. The use of alternative and complementary medicine may be higher in patients with chronic conditions such as PD. However, behavioral effects of mindfulness training in PD have not yet been reported in the literature and this points to an unmet need and warrants further examination. Methods. A total of 27 out of 30 PD patients completed a randomized controlled longitudinal trial. Questionnaires and the UPDRS I–IV were obtained at baseline and 8-week follow-up. Results. Significant changes after the MBI were found including a 5.5 point decrease on the UPDRS motor score, an increase of 0.79 points on Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39) pain item, and a 3.15 point increase in the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire observe facet. Conclusions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative analysis of neurobehavioral effects of MBI in PD.

Comprehensive Examination of Therapies for Pain in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Miscellaneous therapies included hydrotherapy [33,34], massage therapy [35], gym training [36], mindfulness therapy [37], vibration therapy [38], and power yoga [39] (Table 1, with further intervention details in Appendix 4).…”

“…Pain severity was reported in 8 trials using the pain subscale of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS-P) [17,24,26,27,29,30,33,35], in 8 using section 39 of the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 [16,22,23,31,32,36,37,39], in 4 using the Likert pain scale [18,19,34,38], in 1 using the King Parkinson's Disease Pain Scale [21], in 1 using question 1.9 of the Movement Disorders Society -Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS Q1.9) [25], in 1 using the McGill Pain Scale [20], and in 1 trial using the Daily Pain Rating Sheet [28] (Table 1).…”

“…Ten studies qualified for the secondary sensitivity analysis, of which 2 were dopaminergic agonists [17,19], 1 was part of the cannabinoids and opioids class [21], 3 among the electrical and Chinese therapies [25,27,38], and 1 each for miscellaneous therapies [37], pardoprunox [30], safinamide [16], and COMT inhibitors [31]. Cannabinoids and opioids experienced a -0.02-unit reduction in pain severity (SMD = -2.26 vs. SMD = -2.24), electrical and Chinese therapies displayed a -0.13-unit reduction in pain severity (SMD = -1.11 vs. SMD = -0.98), and a -0.12-unit reduction in pain severity was seen for pardoprunox (SMD = -0.62 vs. SMD = -0.50).…”

Distant delivery of a mindfulness-based intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease: the study protocol of a randomised pilot trial

“…Three recent small randomised control trials ( n  = 29, 30, and 14) showed a significant decrease after the mindfulness-based intervention in reported motor symptoms [15, 16] and symptoms of depression [16, 17] and anxiety [16] for people with PD. A qualitative study evaluating the acceptability and feasibility of this approach in a group of patients with PD [18] has found that this form of intervention is well accepted by patients with PD.…”

East Meets West - But Bridging Concepts Are Still Lacking! Time for New Steps in Medical Anthropology

“…The authors reporting on aerobic exercises are from Western and Eastern institutions [5], those reporting about yoga have Chinese or Japanese background [6,7], those doing research on MBSR are from Europe, USA, or Iran [8,9]. Only the authors reporting on the relatively young eurythmy therapy (developed in Switzerland and Germany in the early 20th century) are from Germany alone [10,11], whereas researchers from USA are reporting on tai chi [12].…”