Effects of mindfulness-based preoperative intervention for patients undergoing elective surgery: A meta-analysis

Objective: Patients often experience pain and psychological distress when undergoing elective surgeries. Mindfulness-based interventions have been proposed as potential strategies to address these challenges. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative mindfulness-based interventions on several outcomes for patients undergoing elective surgery, including preoperative anxiety/depression, postoperative anxiety/depression, postoperative pain, and quality of life (QOL). Methods: This meta-analysis encompassed randomized controlled trials published in the database PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase to August 2023. Mindfulness-based interventions were compared to control groups, who received treatment as usual (TAU). The RevMan software was employed to assess each outcome by using standardized mean difference based on patient-reported data. Subgroup analyses were further performed according to different categories of surgical types. Results: Eight RCTs with a total of 685 patients were identified. This meta-analysis demonstrated significant difference in preoperative anxiety (SMD:−0.36, 95% CI: −0.62 to −0.11, p = .006) and postoperative pain immediately (SMD:−0.65,95% CI: −1.09 to −0.20, p = .004), 2–3 days (SMD:-0.40, 95% CI:-0.78 to −0.02, p = .04),at 14 days (SMD:−0.48,95% CI: −0.85 to −0.12, p = .009) and 28 days (SMD:−0.89,95% CI: −1.55 to −0.23, p = .008) postoperatively. However, there were no differences between postoperative anxiety, preoperative/postoperative depression, and QOL. Conclusion: Our findings suggest preoperative mindfulness-based interventions can effectively manage preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain in patients scheduled for elective surgery. Further research is warranted to explore the different timing and types of mindfulness-based intervention.