Author: Innes KE1, Selfe TK2, Kandati S1,3, Wen S4, Huysmans Z5
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
<sup>2</sup>Department of Biomedical and Health Information Services, Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
<sup>3</sup>School of Dentistry, SUNY-Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
<sup>4</sup>Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
<sup>5</sup>College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
Conference/Journal: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med.
Date published: 2018 Aug 30
Other:
Volume ID: 2018 , Pages: 7683897 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1155/2018/7683897. eCollection 2018. , Word Count: 281
Objective: Disease-modifying treatments for OA remain elusive, and commonly used medications can have serious side effects. Although meditation and music listening (ML) have been shown to improve outcomes in certain chronic pain populations, research in OA is sparse. In this pilot RCT, we explore the effects of two mind-body practices, mantra meditation (MM) and ML, on knee pain, function, and related outcomes in adults with knee OA.
Methods: Twenty-two older ambulatory adults diagnosed with knee OA were randomized to a MM (N=11) or ML program (N=11) and asked to practice 15-20 minutes, twice daily for 8 weeks. Core outcomes included knee pain (Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score [KOOS] and Numeric Rating Scale), knee function (KOOS), and perceived OA severity (Patient Global Assessment). Additional outcomes included perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), mood (Profile of Mood States), sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and health-related quality of life (QOL, SF-36). Participants were assessed at baseline and following completion of the program.
Results: Twenty participants (91%) completed the study (9 MM, 11 ML). Compliance was excellent; participants completed an average of 12.1±0.83 sessions/week. Relative to baseline, participants in both groups demonstrated improvement post-intervention in all core outcomes, including knee pain, function, and perceived OA severity, as well as improvement in mood, perceived stress, and QOL (Physical Health) (p's≤0.05). Relative to ML, the MM group showed greater improvements in overall mood and sleep (p's≤0.04), QOL-Mental Health (p<0.07), kinesiophobia (p=0.09), and two domains of the KOOS (p's<0.09).
Conclusions: Findings of this exploratory RCT suggest that a simple MM and, possibly, ML program may be effective in reducing knee pain and dysfunction, decreasing stress, and improving mood, sleep, and QOL in adults with knee OA.
PMID: 30245732 PMCID: PMC6136530 DOI: 10.1155/2018/7683897