Meditation as an intervention for chronic pain: an integrative review.

Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon that causes a significant disruption in the lives of those affected. Chronic pain is difficult to treat and challenges healthcare professionals' abilities to implement effective treatments. Therefore, chronic pain sufferers often seek complementary alternative medicine therapies such as meditation. Literature reviews have examined studies using mindfulness-based stress reduction program as an intervention for a variety of health problems. However, no reviews exist looking at a specific patient population's utilization of meditation-based programs. Therefore, the purpose of this integrative review is to examine studies that have investigated meditation as an intervention for chronic pain, identify gaps in the literature, and make recommendations for further research.