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Systematic review of the safety of mindfulness-based interventions for psychosis.

Clinical psychology review
August 1, 2024
Bethany O'Brien-Venus et al. (4 authors)
Journal ArticleSystematic ReviewMeta-AnalysisReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to assess the reporting and prevalence of harm indices in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for psychosis and compare risks between intervention and control arms.

Results Summary

MBIs for psychosis appear safe and may reduce hospitalization and crisis service use, but harm reporting was inconsistent, with no significant differences in adverse events, death, or symptom deterioration between groups.

Population

Individuals with psychosis (total n = 2684 across 39 studies).

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (10)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
decrease
hospitalisation
participants across studies
RD (95% CI) = -0.136 (-0.23 to -0.05), p = 0.003
found a higher risk of
#1
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
decrease
crisis service use
participants across studies
RD (95% CI) = -0.160 (-0.299, -0.024), p = 0.02
found a higher risk of
#2
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
no change
adverse events
participants across studies
no significant difference
no significant difference in
#3
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
no change
death
participants across studies
no significant difference
no significant difference in
#4
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
no change
symptom deterioration
participants across studies
no significant difference
no significant difference in
#5
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
no change
noncompletion of therapy
participants across studies
no significant difference
no significant difference in
#6
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
no change
drop out
participants across studies
no significant difference
no significant difference in
#7
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
no change
side effects of therapy
participants across studies
no significant difference
no significant difference in
#8
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
decrease
hospitalisation
participants across studies
-
appear to be safe and may reduce the risk of
#9
mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis
decrease
use of crisis services
participants across studies
-
appear to be safe and may reduce the risk of
#10
Abstract

Harmful outcomes of psychological interventions are under-researched, including in mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) for psychosis. This systematic review summarizes reporting and prevalence of 8 harm indices (death, adverse events, hospitalisation, study drop out, noncompletion of therapy, side effects of therapy, symptom deterioration and crisis service use) in Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) of MBIs for psychosis. Meta-analyses of risk differences were also calculated for each harm index. The review included 39 studies, with a total n of 2684 participants across studies. The percentage of studies reporting on each index of harm, and the prevalence of harm, varied greatly across each index. 0% of studies reported on side effects of interventions compared to 92% of studies reporting on study dropout. Meta-analyses of risk differences (RD) found a higher risk of hospitalisation (RD (95% CI) = -0.136 (-0.23 to -0.05), p = 0.003) and crisis service use (RD (95% CI) = -0.160 (-0.299, -0.024), p = 0.02) in control arms compared to intervention arms, and no significant difference in adverse events, death, symptom deterioration, noncompletion of therapy, drop out and side effects of therapy. Overall, reporting of harm was inconsistent across studies and the quality of data collection and reporting varied. MBIs for psychosis appear to be safe and may reduce the risk of hospitalisation and use of crisis services. However, the absence of thorough reporting on harm precludes a balanced analysis of benefits versus harms. Future research into the effectiveness of MBIs should consistently operationalise, monitor and report data on harm.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
HumansMindfulnessPsychotic DisordersHospitalization
Study Links
Quality Scores
Safety80
Efficacy70/10
Quality85/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations1
Citations/Year1.0
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.25
Weight Score2.70
Normalized Score0.77
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