I’m proud to share my first research publication has ben published in Epidemiologic Reviews. It’s a scoping review looking at 22 studies that tested CBT, mindfulness, and meditation-based interventions for neuropathic pain. At a high-level, it shows that these approaches have promise. 86% of studies reported meaningful pain reductions across different intervention types and pain conditions.
What is important to call out is who was actually in those studies. Neuropathic pain disproportionately affects people experiencing social and economic disadvantage. But the participants in these studies were mostly white, married, employed or retired, and living in high-income countries. Demographic data was poorly reported, and not a single study included a measure of disability.
Also worth noting: none of the interventions were delivered by someone with lived experience of the same pain condition. Not one, across 22 studies. That is a gap the literature needs to close.
The approaches themselves are not the problem. The question is whether we are testing them in the right people, with the right design, and with enough follow-up to know if the effects last. Right now, the answer is largely no.
You can read the full paper here: .https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13089449/