Research in mindfulness interventions for patients with fibromyalgia: still at ground zero?

Abstract

Fibromyalgia is one of the most common causes of widespread chronic pain. It has a huge impact on the quality of life, namely because it appears earlier in life than most of the chronic pain conditions. Furthermore, emotional-cognitive distress factors, such as depression and anxiety, are a common feature in patients with fibromyalgia The neurobiological mechanisms underlying fibromyalgia remain mostly unknown. Among non-pharmacological treatments, cognitive-behavioral therapy has been used during the last decade, namely with the enrolment of patients in programs of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and in mindfulness based interventions (MBI). We conducted a survey to evaluate the existence of scientific evidence for the use of MBI in fibromyalgia. We also critically analyzed the literature considering the design of the studies to point future perspectives in the research in MBI for patients with fibromyalgia. We conclude that despite the sparsity of well structured longitudinal studies, there are some promising results showing that the MBI are effective in reducing the negative emotional components of the disease. Well-structured design of studies should include, for example, active controls, evaluation of sustained effectiveness, investigation of the subserving neurobiological mechanisms and reports of possible adverse effects. Research in Mindfulness interventions in fibromyalgia needs to be improved to provide solid data.