The effectiveness of mindfulness-based meditation treatments for late life anxiety: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials


Author: Stacey Hatch1, Jodi Webber1, Soham Rej2, Marcia Finlayson1, Dorothy Kessler1

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Aging and Health Program, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.

<sup>2</sup> Department of Psychiatry, Lady Davis Institute/Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Conference/Journal: Aging Ment Health
Date published: 2022 Jul 31
Other:
  Special Notes: doi: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2102140.   ,  Word Count: 184  
    Objective:

Older adults are interested in mindfulness-based interventions with a meditation component for late life anxiety. This review examined the effectiveness of existing mindfulness-based interventions with a meditation component.



Methods:

This systematic review was registered with the Joanna Briggs Institute on 2021-05-17, was guided by Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and followed the PRISMA framework. Peer-reviewed randomized control trials were reviewed. A systematic literature search was conducted, using the following databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PsycINFO, CINAHL (EBSCO), and AMED.



Results:

Of 2709 studies screened, seven eligible randomized controlled trials were included representing 355 participants. Sample sizes ranged from 36 to 141. Mindfulness-based meditation interventions used varied. Regardless of the mindfulness-based meditation intervention used, a reduction in symptoms of anxiety in participants was reported post-intervention. Results are reported through narrative summary and tables.



Conclusions:

Based on the emerging literature of randomized controlled trials, mindfulness-based interventions with a meditation component appear to be promising in reducing symptoms of anxiety in older adults. These findings demonstrate a need for further randomized controlled trials to guide clinical practice.



Keywords: Aging; anxiety; mental health; mindfulness-based interventions.



PMID: 35912637 DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2102140