• Carrie E Brintz, Isabel Roth, Keturah Faurot, Sanjana Rao, and Susan A Gaylord.
• Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
• Pain Med. 2020 Nov 1; 21 (11): 279928102799-2810.

ObjectiveThe Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program is effective at improving chronic pain outcomes, but the time demand hinders participation. This preliminary study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effects of providing an abbreviated mindfulness program for patients with chronic pain.DesignA single-arm, mixed-methods, pre-post intervention study.SettingAn outpatient rehabilitation clinic at an academic medical center.SubjectsParticipants were N = 23 adults with chronic pain who were new to mindfulness practice.MethodsMindfulness-based Stress Reduction was adapted to shorten the program to four weekly 90-minute sessions and to focus content on pain management. Three cohorts of six to nine participants completed baseline and post-treatment measures of 1) patient-reported outcomes, including pain intensity, pain interference, physical functioning, depressive/anxiety symptoms, positive affect and well-being, and sleep disturbance; 2) pain medication dosages; 3) psychosocial variables including pain acceptance, pain catastrophizing, and perceived stress; 4) dispositional mindfulness, as well as postintervention structured interviews about their experiences.ResultsAcceptable rates of retention and attendance and high ratings of satisfaction indicated that the intervention was feasible and acceptable. In interviews, participants found the program acceptable and beneficial and provided suggestions to improve it. From pre- to post-treatment, significant improvements were reported in all measures except physical functioning and anxiety.ConclusionsIn adults with chronic pain, a four-week mindfulness program is feasible and acceptable, addresses the barrier of a lengthy program, and may improve quality of life and psychological functioning. An appropriately powered randomized controlled trial with a comparison group is needed to assess the intervention's effectiveness.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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