MBSR in Parkinson’s a feasibility study - Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
In people with Parkinson’s is a short course of mindfulness based stress reduction, or MBSR a feasible intervention that can be associated with an improvement in one or more of the non-motor symptoms of anxiety, sleep or orthostatic hypotension and of quality of life?
IRAS ID
126868
Contact name
Ruth Ohlsen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Research summary
Mindfulness meditation in people with Parkinson’s: a feasibility study
Parkinson’s is progressive; currently there is no cure. The classical symptoms of Parkinson’s are related to movement. People with Parkinson’s can also experience a range of symptoms not related to movement, called non-motor symptoms (NMS). Amongst the many NMS are anxiety, dizziness on standing and sleep problems.
NMS become more evident with increasing age and disease duration. They increasingly impact upon the person’s quality of life. Unlike the drug treatment of the motor symptoms, treatments are limited and not always effective. There is increasing interest in the use of psychological interventions to help manage chronic illnesses such as Parkinson’s. An intervention gaining credibility is ‘mindfulness’. Mindfulness has its origins in Buddhist philosophy and uses meditation techniques to teach individuals to respond constructively to stressful situations. A version gaining recognition and used in UK healthcare settings is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction [MBSR]. The NMS of anxiety, sleep problems and dizziness on standing have potential to respond to mindfulness.
This study will encompass people seen in the Parkinson’s Clinics at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals. They will have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s and one or more of the three NMS above. They will be invited to have a course of MBSR to try to reduce these NMS.
The study will last three months. An MBSR teacher will explain the exercises in a one to one clinic appointment at St Thomas’ Hospital lasting 20 minutes. A written and recorded version of the exercises will be given to help people practice daily for 20 -40 minutes. The teacher will be available to discuss any problems with the intervention during the study. After three months the person will be seen in clinic to assess the impact and feasibility of the intervention.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/EM/0235
Date of REC Opinion
11 Jun 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion