All Meditation

The interest in meditation practices as healing strategies comes with the need to acquire a deeper knowledge of the connections between body and mind, and how the mental and spiritual state of an individual directly affects psychological and physical well-being.

Meditation practices have been advocated as mind-body treatments for health-related problems and as methods to attain or maintain general wellness. There is a growing body of scientific literature on the effects of meditation practices for a variety of psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, panic disorders, binge eating disorders, and substance abuse, among others. Effects of meditation practices have been also documented using measures of emotional distress and cognitive abilities.

The effects of meditation practices as complementary treatments for medical conditions other than mental illness have been evaluated using a variety of methods and outcomes. These clinical conditions include hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders, pain syndromes and musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory disorders (e.g., asthma, congestive obstructive pulmonary disease), dermatological problems (e.g., psoriasis, allergies), immunological disorders, and treatment-related symptoms of breast and prostate cancer.

There is also a considerable interest in understanding the physiological and neuropsychological effects of certain meditation practices.

Research conducted in this area has used a variety of methodological approaches and formal evaluations of the methodological quality of this body of evidence have not been conducted.

There is a need to evaluate the evidence that has emerged within the past several decades on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare. Reports on the therapeutic effects of a variety of meditation practices vary greatly across studies. Numerous authors have claimed that most of the studies in this area are methodologically flawed and often have small sample sizes. The magnitude and direction of the effect often varies from one type of practice to another; however, authors agree that some meditation practices hold some promise of therapeutic benefit for a variety of diseases or conditions. Therefore, there is a great need to clarify and address a host of clinical and research questions regarding the benefits of these interventions.

It is also important to systematically evaluate the role that effect modifiers (e.g., age, gender, duration of practice, other characteristics of meditators, training conditions) may have in
influencing the outcomes of the types of meditation. By elucidating important clinical questions regarding the therapeutic effects of meditation practices, consensus on standards of practice can be reached with a view to integrate mind-body approaches more effectively into conventional medical care.

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This report is based on research conducted by the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD (Contract No. 290-02-0023). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s), who are responsible for its contents, and do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. No statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The information in this report is intended to help clinicians, employers, policymakers, and others make informed decisions about the provision of health care services. This report is intended as a reference and not as a substitute for clinical judgment.

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