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Evidence of a Symptom Cluster: The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Self-Reported Stress, Fatigue, Pain and Sleep Among U.S. Military Service Members and Veterans

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Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare and Medical Devices (AHFE 2017)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 590))

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Abstract

Physical and behavioral symptoms of stress may occur in a consistent constellation of symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of mindfulness meditation (MM) training on U.S. military service members and veterans’ self-reported stress, fatigue, pain, and sleep disturbances, and to investigate whether changes in the outcome measures were uniform or independent of one another. Participants attended 8-weeks of MM training and completed the following pre/post evaluations: Perceived Stress Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Data were separately analyzed for those experiencing pain at any level and for those experiencing high pain. Scores on each measure were significantly correlated at both measurement occasions (p < .05) and did not differ significantly across training (p > .05), suggesting that MM-related effects on the relationship between the four measures were congruent. These results suggest a symptom cluster, independent of self-reported pain level.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the U.S. military service members and veterans who participated in this study. This research was supported in part by the U.S. Army Study Program Management Office (ASPMO). Our appreciation is offered to our colleagues Mr. Gary Boykin, Dr. Baoxia Liu, Ms. Angela Jeter, Ms. Jessica Villarreal, and Mr. Jim Hewson. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Army Medical Department Field Element, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Valerie J. Rice

  2. DCS Corp, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Paul J. Schroeder

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  1. Valerie J. Rice
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  2. Paul J. Schroeder
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Correspondence to Valerie J. Rice .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Vincent Duffy

  2. Center for Applied Systems Engineering, Veterans Affairs, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

    Nancy Lightner

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Rice, V.J., Schroeder, P.J. (2018). Evidence of a Symptom Cluster: The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Self-Reported Stress, Fatigue, Pain and Sleep Among U.S. Military Service Members and Veterans. In: Duffy, V., Lightner, N. (eds) Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare and Medical Devices. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 590. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60483-1_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60483-1_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60482-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60483-1

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