The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on the health-related quality of life in the elderly
: a meta-analysis

  • Sandiren Naiken

Student thesis: Master, two years

Abstract

Old age is often accompanied by declining health and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have been proposed as a non-pharmacological alternative to improve HRQoL in the elderly (>60 years old). There are a few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature which have examined the effects of MBI on HRQoL in old people. So, it has become essential to perform a meta-analysis to improve our understanding of how MBI could affect HRQoL in old-aged persons. A comprehensive literature search was done, and after applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria which were the selection of RCTs that investigated the effects of MBI sessions with a duration of 8 weeks or longer on HRQoL of the elderly, seven studies were selected. A meta-analysis was done with the results from these seven studies, and the unit of analysis for HRQoL outcomes was the Hedge's g. There were a total of 617 older adults with an average age of 73.8 years in the selected studies. A small improvement (g= 0.19, 95% CI= 0.02– 0.36) was found in HRQoL among the elderly in MBI groups compared to those in control groups. However, due to potential publication bias in this meta-analysis, the results reported here need to be carefully interpreted. The studies selected for this meta-analysis could not blind the participants to MBI, and this could represent a potential bias in their reported results. So, ways to estimate this bias need to be devised.

Date of Award2020-Feb-25
Original languageEnglish
SupervisorAtika Khalaf (Supervisor) & Peter Hagell (Examiner)

Educational program

  • Masterprogram Integrerad hälsovetenskap

University credits

  • 30 HE credits

Swedish Standard Keywords

  • Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (30302)

Keywords

  • mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
  • mindfulness-based stress reduction
  • mbi
  • old age
  • healthy aging
  • hrqol

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