JAMA Internal Medicine
February 16, 2015
David S. Black, Gillian A. O’Reilly, Richard Olmstead et al.
485 citations
A 6-week mindfulness meditation program improved sleep quality more than sleep hygiene education in older adults with moderate sleep disturbances. Participants in the mindfulness group saw their sleep quality scores drop from 10.2 to 7.4 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, while the education group's scores fell from 10.2 to 9.1, a between-group difference of 1.8 points. The mindfulness group also showed greater reductions in insomnia symptoms, depression symptoms, and fatigue. No significant differences were found for anxiety, stress, or a marker of inflammation, though the inflammation marker declined over time in both groups. The findings suggest that community-accessible mindfulness programs can improve sleep and related daytime impairment in older adults.
Translational Psychiatry
March 21, 2021
Jennifer L. Kruse, Megha M. Vasavada, Richard Olmstead et al.
47 citations
Lower baseline levels of the inflammatory marker interleukin-8 (IL-8) in females, but not males, trended toward predicting a better response to ketamine for depression. In 46 depressed patients receiving a single ketamine infusion, changes in IL-8 over time also differed by sex and treatment response: increasing IL-8 was associated with decreasing depression scores in females, while the opposite pattern appeared in males. Other inflammatory markers showed no significant relationships. These preliminary findings suggest that sex differences in IL-8 may help explain how ketamine works and could guide personalized depression treatment.
Home health care services quarterly
October 2, 2023
Allison K Hansell, Richard Olmstead, Eric López Maya et al.
4 citations
A comparison of mindful awareness practices (MAPs) meditation versus Korean-style Tai Chi for home care aides found that both groups improved in depression, insomnia, and negative affect over six weeks. Only the MAPs group showed sustained improvement in negative affect at three-month follow-up. At that point, 75% of MAPs participants continued practicing, compared to 55% of Tai Chi participants. MAPs were deemed more practical and easier to integrate into daily life, leading to their selection for scaling as a benefit for home care aides.