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.