UMass Chan study examines mindfulness as nonpharmacological approach to chronic low back pain

Researchers at UMass Chan Medical School are collaborating with teams from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Boston Medical Center on a multisite chronic low back pain study exploring how AI methods can be utilized to predict and monitor who would respond to mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to improve movement, sleep and daily functioning, without relying solely on medication.

The study, Integrative Mindfulness-Based Predictive Approach for Chronic Low Back Pain Treatment or IMPACT, includes a 350-person clinical trial and builds on mindfulness-based stress reduction, an evidence-based intervention developed more than 50 years ago at UMass Chan by Jon…