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October 07, 2020
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Meditation during phototherapy may improve QOL, patient perspectives

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Meditation and mindfulness techniques may improve patients’ perspectives on their skin disease, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology virtual meeting.

“Living with a dermatologic condition has a significant impact on patient self-perception, quality of life and psychosocial well-being,” the study authors wrote.

Twenty-seven patients who were receiving phototherapy for skin conditions were randomly assigned to meditation during phototherapy (16) or phototherapy alone (11). Subjects were then given a survey that included Dermatology Life Quality Index questions to evaluate the effects of meditation on stress levels and disease-specific impact.

DLQI scores increased significantly (P = .0057) in patients in the meditation and phototherapy group compared with before the intervention. Mean DLQI improved in both groups, with the improvement in the meditation group trending toward significance.

In addition, a significant improvement in stress levels was recorded in the meditation group (P = .03).

“The data demonstrates that engaging in mindfulness techniques can have a positive impact on patients’ perspectives of their skin disease,” the authors wrote. “Patients can see quality of life benefits from meditation as soon as 2 weeks after initiation.”