Chronic pain is a growing worldwide health problem and complementary and integrative therapy options are becoming increasingly important. Multi-component yoga interventions represent such an integrative therapy approach with a promising body of evidence.
The present study employed an experimental single-case multiple-baseline design. It investigated the effects of an 8-week yoga-based mind-body intervention, Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification (MBLM), in the treatment of chronic pain. The main outcomes were pain intensity (BPI-sf), quality of life (WHO-5), and pain self-efficacy (PSEQ).
Twenty-two patients with chronic pain (back pain, fibromyalgia, or migraines) participated in the study and 17 women completed the intervention. MBLM proved to be an effective intervention for a large proportion of the participants. The largest effects were found for pain self-efficacy (TAU- = 0.35), followed by average pain intensity (TAU- = 0.21), quality of life (TAU- = 0.23), and most severe pain (TAU- = 0.14). However, the participants varied in their responses to the treatment.
The present results point to relevant clinical effects of MBLM for the multifactorial conditions of chronic pain. Future controlled clinical studies should investigate its usefulness and safety with larger samples. The ethical and philosophical aspects of yoga should be further explored to verify their therapeutic utility.