The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on the health-related quality of life in the elderly: a meta-analysis
2019 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Old age is often accompanied by declining health and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have been proposed as a non-pharmacological alternative to improve HRQoL in the elderly (>60 years old). There are a few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature which have examined the effects of MBI on HRQoL in old people. So, it has become essential to perform a meta-analysis to improve our understanding of how MBI could affect HRQoL in old-aged persons. A comprehensive literature search was done, and after applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria which were the selection of RCTs that investigated the effects of MBI sessions with a duration of 8 weeks or longer on HRQoL of the elderly, seven studies were selected. A meta-analysis was done with the results from these seven studies, and the unit of analysis for HRQoL outcomes was the Hedge's g. There were a total of 617 older adults with an average age of 73.8 years in the selected studies. A small improvement (g= 0.19, 95% CI= 0.02– 0.36) was found in HRQoL among the elderly in MBI groups compared to those in control groups. However, due to potential publication bias in this meta-analysis, the results reported here need to be carefully interpreted. The studies selected for this meta-analysis could not blind the participants to MBI, and this could represent a potential bias in their reported results. So, ways to estimate this bias need to be devised.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019.
Keywords [en]
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, MBI, old age, healthy aging, HRQoL
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-20429OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hkr-20429DiVA, id: diva2:1396015
Educational program
Masterprogram Integrerad hälsovetenskap
Uppsok
Medicine
Supervisors
Examiners
2020-02-252020-02-252020-02-25Bibliographically approved