Feasibility of a Mindfulness and Pain Management Group in an Acute Rehabilitation Setting

Research Objectives: To report the feasibility of a Mindfulness and Pain Management group for adults in acute inpatient rehabilitation, share details on the novel intervention, and the results of an exploratory analysis.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Participants: Adults receiving rehabilitation after orthopedic, amputee, spinal cord injury, cancer, or stroke, who report pain.

Interventions: 45-minute, 4-part, Mindfulness and Pain Management group led by a clinical psychologist and physical therapist.

Main Outcome Measures: The Mindfulness and Pain Management Survey (MPMS) which assesses any prior knowledge/use of mindfulness and pain management strategies and the likelihood to utilize strategies learned. The Numerical Rating Scale of Pain (NRS) assesses pain levels on a 0-10 scale. The NRS was administered to participants pre and post the intervention.

Results: Over 6-months, 22 pain management groups took place, with 53 participants total. Recruitment was continuous. Of the 53, 57.8% were female, the mean age of the group was 65.45(14.75). The most common diagnostic group was the orthopedic population (54.7%) and the most common location of the pain was the leg (29.7%). The means and standard deviations were calculated for the NRS, both pre and post the group session. The pre-group NRS were 5.13(2.50) and the post-group NRS were 4.45(2.66). The paired samples t-test revealed a statistically significant average difference, t52= 3.648, p <.001. Cohen’s d indicated a moderate effect size (d= 5.0). This means that there was a difference found in the pain scores after the participants completed the intervention but it was not a very strong difference and therefore the conclusions should be interpreted with caution. Of note, one of the MPMS survey scores indicated that the 98% of participants through this group was helpful.

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a Mindfulness and Pain Management Group in an acute rehabilitation setting. Also, findings suggests potential effect on pain reduction, however we suggest more research to examine the efficacy of this group.

Author(s) Disclosures: All authors have nothing to disclose.