Comparisons of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions and their Study Designs

Mindfulness involves intentionally bringing one\u27s attention to the present moment and acknowledging one’s thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations in a non-judgmental way. It is often taught through a variety of meditation exercises, which can be web-based, self-administered, or led by an experienced meditator. Mindfulness appears to be a useful modality to incorporate into usual treatment protocols to alleviate symptoms of psychological distress that can interfere with physical rehabilitation. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been increasing in popularity since the creation of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 1979. MBSR is considered as a gold-standard among MBIs and has been described as “a group program that focuses upon the progressive acquisition of mindfulness.” The purpose of this study is to conduct a critical review of literature to determine 1) which mobile application based MBI appears to be more effective, and 2) which assessment tools best capture outcomes of practicing mindfulness. Our inclusion criteria for studies we will examine are: studies more recent than 2010, studies that use a mobile application-based MBI, and experimental studies where the outcomes are compared between two groups (i.e. a group that received the mindfulness meditation treatment and a control group which did not receive the treatment). We will look at studies whose populations are individuals with anxiety disorders, individuals with musculoskeletal disorders, and individuals with cancer. Information found in this literature review will help us solidify the design of our pilot study and future studies on how the use of MBIs affect individuals with upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders such as rotator cuff tears