Standardised Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Healthcare: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of RCTs. Author: Gotink RA1, Chu P2, Busschbach JJ3, Benson H4, Fricchione GL5, Hunink MG6. Affiliation: 1Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, section Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 2Department of Health Policy, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America. 3Department of Psychiatry, section Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 4Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States of America; Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States of America. 5Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States of America; Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States of America. 6Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, United States of America. Conference/Journal: PLoS One. Date published: 2015 Apr 16 Other: Volume ID: 10 , Issue ID: 4 , Pages: e0124344 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124344 , Word Count: 226 BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based therapies are being used in a wide range of common chronic conditions in both treatment and prevention despite lack of consensus about their effectiveness in different patient categories. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence of effectiveness MBSR and MBCT in different patient categories. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of systematic reviews of RCTs, using the standardized MBSR or MBCT programs. We used PRISMA guidelines to assess the quality of the included reviews and performed a random effects meta-analysis with main outcome measure Cohen's d. All types of participants were considered. RESULTS: The search produced 187 reviews: 23 were included, covering 115 unique RCTs and 8,683 unique individuals with various conditions. Compared to wait list control and compared to treatment as usual, MBSR and MBCT significantly improved depressive symptoms (d=0.37; 95%CI 0.28 to 0.45, based on 5 reviews, N=2814), anxiety (d=0.49; 95%CI 0.37 to 0.61, based on 4 reviews, N=2525), stress (d=0.51; 95%CI 0.36 to 0.67, based on 2 reviews, N=1570), quality of life (d=0.39; 95%CI 0.08 to 0.70, based on 2 reviews, N=511) and physical functioning (d=0.27; 95%CI 0.12 to 0.42, based on 3 reviews, N=1015). Limitations include heterogeneity within patient categories, risk of publication bias and limited long-term follow-up in several studies. CONCLUSION: The evidence supports the use of MBSR and MBCT to alleviate symptoms, both mental and physical, in the adjunct treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, depression, anxiety disorders and in prevention in healthy adults and children. PMID: 25881019