Mindfulness-based interventions may reduce stress, depression, and anxiety in adults with type 2 diabetes, and may produce a small improvement in blood sugar control (HbA1c) and blood pressure, but the evidence is very low to low certainty. A meta-analysis of 31 randomized controlled trials with 2,337 participants found that mindfulness programs compared to waitlist or usual care were associated with reductions in stress, depression, and anxiety at the end of treatment. Mindfulness plus lifestyle changes showed no additional benefit for blood sugar or body weight over lifestyle changes alone. The low certainty of the evidence prevents firm clinical recommendations.
A structured eight-week mindfulness-based music therapy (MBMT) program improved mood regulation in older women with blindness more than mindfulness alone or no treatment. Ninety-two older women from a Hong Kong residential setting were randomly assigned to MBMT, mindfulness intervention (MI), or a control group. At posttest, both MBMT and MI groups showed lower scores on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) compared to controls. MBMT led to greater improvement in emotional awareness and appeared to reduce depression more than MI alone, suggesting a synergistic effect of combining mindfulness with music.