Systematic Review for the Medical Applications of Meditation in Randomized Controlled Trials

Do-Young Kim, Soo-Hwa Hong, Seung-Hyeon Jang, So-Hyeon Park, Jung-Hee Noh, Jung-Mi Seok, Hyun-Jeong Jo, Chang-Gue Son and Eun-Jung Lee
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Do-Young Kim: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
Soo-Hwa Hong: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
Seung-Hyeon Jang: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
So-Hyeon Park: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
Jung-Hee Noh: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
Jung-Mi Seok: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
Hyun-Jeong Jo: Korean Medical College, Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34520, Korea
Chang-Gue Son: Department of Liver and Immunology Research Center, Daejeon Oriental Hospital of Daejeon University, 75, Daedeok-daero 176, Seo-gu, Daejeon 35235, Korea
Eun-Jung Lee: Department of Korean Rehabilitation Medicine, Daejeon Oriental Hospital of Daejeon University, 75, Daedeok-daero 176, Seo-gu, Daejeon 35235, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: Background: Meditation has been increasingly adapted for healthy populations and participants with diseases. Its beneficial effects are still challenging to determine due to the heterogeneity and methodological obstacles regarding medical applications. This study aimed to integrate the features of therapeutic meditation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We conducted a systematic review of RCTs with meditation for populations with diseases using the PubMed database through June 2021. We analyzed the characteristics of the diseases/disorders, participants, measurements, and their overall benefits. Results: Among a total of 4855 references, 104 RCTs were determined and mainly applied mindfulness-based (51 RCTs), yoga-based (32 RCTs), and transcendental meditation (14 RCTs) to 10,139 patient-participants. These RCTs were conducted for participants with a total of 45 kinds of disorders; the most frequent being cancer, followed by musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases and affective mood disorder. Seven symptoms or signs were frequently assessed: depressive mood, feeling anxious, quality of life, stress, sleep, pain, and fatigue. The RCTs showed a higher ratio of positive outcomes for sleep (73.9%) and fatigue (68.4%). Conclusions: This systematic review produced the comprehensive features of RCTs for therapeutic meditation. These results will help physicians and researchers further study clinical adaptations in the future as reference data.

Keywords: meditation; RCT; review; depression; sleep; fatigue (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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