Mindfulness in people with a respiratory diagnosis: A systematic review

• Mindfulness is inconsistent in terms of its delivery, enrolment criteria and outcomes.
• It is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions regarding its effectiveness.
• Uptake and adherence to mindfulness is poor with practical barriers cited.
• Mindfulness needs to be targeted to a sub-population who have high distress.
• Mindfulness may need longer treatment time and active follow up.

ObjectivesTo describe how mindfulness is delivered and to examine the effect of mindfulness on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), mindful awareness and stress in adults with a respiratory diagnosis.MethodFive electronic databases were searched. Data were extracted and assessed for quality by two reviewers.ResultsData were extracted from four studies. Interventions were based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and delivered by trained instructors. Recordings of mindfulness were provided for home-based practice. One study targeted the intervention exclusively to anxious individuals with a respiratory diagnosis. Adherence to mindfulness was poor. No effects were seen on disease-specific HRQOL (standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.21 95% CI: −0.36 to 0.48, p = 0.78), mindful awareness (SMD = 0.09 95% CI: −0.34 to 0.52, p = 0.68) or stress levels (SMD  = −0.11 95% CI: −0.46 to 0.23, p = 0.51).ConclusionMindfulness interventions, delivered to individuals with a respiratory diagnosis, varied widely in terms of delivery and the outcomes assessed making it difficult to draw any conclusions regarding its effectiveness.