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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Intervention For The Treatment Of Chronic Pain In The Elderly, Austin Roadarmel, Diane Reibel, Phd, Aleeze Moss, Phd, Andrew Newberg, Md

Phase 1

One of the most common complaints of adults in their 80s and above, a growing portion of our population, is chronic pain and it is often inadequately treated. A secular mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 and has since shown measurable benefits to individuals in decreasing depression, pain, and anxiety. Considering the significant risk of side effects and age-associated changes of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics in the traditional pharmacologic approach to chronic pain in the elderly, non-pharmacologic intervention such as MBSR may be particularly effective for the elderly population.

Methods: We conducted a 6 week, …