A systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials examined whether meditation-based therapies improve symptoms, quality of life, and mood in adults with chronic peripheral neuropathy. Compared with control conditions, meditation-based therapy was associated with significantly lower anxiety and depression scores, higher mindfulness scores, and reduced pain severity at 1 to 1.5 months follow-up. Differences in neuropathic pain severity, perceived stress, quality of life, and sleep quality were not statistically significant. The authors note that many results pointed toward improvement but that heterogeneity and risk of bias in the included studies limit the strength of the conclusions.
Adding meditation and compassion-focused group therapy to standard care for patients with eating disorders, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and depression improved acceptance, mindfulness awareness, self-compassion, and psychological distress within the group that received the extra therapy. However, at the end of the study, there were no statistically significant differences between the group receiving the added therapy and the group receiving standard care alone on any of the four measured scales. The comparison between groups was limited by data availability.