Association of psychological and physiological measures of stress in health‐care professionals during an 8‐week mindfulness meditation program: mindfulness in practice

An 8-week mindfulness meditation program for health-care professionals did not significantly change salivary cortisol levels, a biomarker of stress. However, participants reported improvements in mood (average increase of 12.4 points on the Profile of Mood States) and reduced emotional exhaustion (average decrease of 4.54 points on the Maslach Burnout Inventory). Correlations between self-reported stress and cortisol were weak and not statistically significant. Changes in empathy were not detected, possibly due to the program's lack of effect, sample size, or measurement sensitivity. The psychometric results suggest that further clinical trials of mindfulness meditation for stress reduction in health-care professionals are warranted.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Work stress, burnout, and diminished empathy are prevalent issues for health‐care professionals. Mindfulness meditation (MM) is one commonly used strategy to manage stress. Measuring salivary cortisol allows for the assessment of serum cortisol level, a known stress level indicator. This study evaluated the association of subject‐reported stress symptoms and salivary cortisol in health‐care professionals, in an 8‐week MM program, with data collected prospectively at baseline and 8 weeks after program completion. Questionnaires [Profile of Mood States—Short Form (POMS‐SF), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)] measured mood, burnout and empathy. A paired t ‐test between groups for pre/post‐salivary cortisol yielded no significant change. The POMS‐SF was most sensitive to change (mean increase 12.4; p = 0.020). Emotional exhaustion, measured in the MBI, was also affected by MM (mean decrease 4.54; p = 0.001). Changes in empathy may not have been captured due to either absence of effect of MM on empathy, subject number or scale sensitivity. Baseline and 8‐week correlations between salivary cortisol and survey results, and correlations between changes in these measures, were weak and not statistically significant. Nevertheless, psychometric results present a strong case for additional clinical trials of MM to reduce stress for health‐care professionals. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.