None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Up to 80% of Australians experience back pain and 10% have significant disability as a result. There is a critical need for the development and evaluation of innovative treatments that have the capacity to target the multidimensional nature of chronic low back pain. This study will compare the effects and mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation, Cognitive Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for chronic low back pain. Results will ultimately lead to streamlined interventions designed to efficiently maximise benefit.
Interventions
Eight, group delivered 2 hours sessions (1 per week) of either:
(1) mindfulness meditation - various mindfulness meditation techniques are taught as means to reduce stress and improve coping and management of pain.
or
(2) cognitive therapy - exercises such as cognitive restructuring are taught to change unhelpful ways of thinking and responding to pain to improve pain management.
or
(3) mindfulness-based cognitive therapy - both mindfulness meditation and cognitive coping techniques are tau
Eight, group delivered 2 hours sessions (1 per week) of either: (1) mindfulness meditation - various mindfulness meditation techniques are taught as means to reduce stress and improve coping and management of pain. or (2) cognitive therapy - exercises such as cognitive restructuring are taught to change unhelpful ways of thinking and responding to pain to improve pain management. or (3) mindfulness-based cognitive therapy - both mindfulness meditation and cognitive coping techniques are taught to improve adaptive pain coping and management. Each participant receives all 8 sessions for one of the above three interventions only. Between session practice is encouraged and recorded via participant self-report. All interventions are group delivered by a clinical psychologist.
Sponsors
Dr Melissa Day
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
(1) at least 18 years of age; (2) chronic pain of the low back (at least 3 months) that is the primary source of reported pain; (3) average pain intensity of at least 4 on a 10-point scale; (4) if currently taking analgesic or psychotropic medications, they must have been stabilised for at least 4 weeks prior to this study; (5) be able to read, speak and understand English; and (6) be able to attend a weekly 2-hour therapy session for 8 concurrent weeks.
Exclusion criteria
(1) cognitive impairment, uncontrolled psychotic symptoms or current elevated suicidal ideation as this may interfere with group-delivered therapy (as evidenced by the 6-item screener); (2) chronic pain due to malignancy; (3) history of a medical condition that could produce an abnormal EEG and interfere with the tests of the effects of treatment on EEG (e.g., epilepsy, history of traumatic brain injury); and (4) currently receiving other psychosocial pain treatment.
Outcome results
None listed