Ab1587-HPR How Does Ho’oponopono Meditation Affect Quality of Sleep in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Patients?

Background: Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMSP) disorders are a leading cause of disability globally, affecting up to one in three people. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have become a popular treatment for CMSP. Mindfulness has been defined as "the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally". Objectives: The aim of our study was to explore the effectiveness of Ho'oponopono meditation as a MBI for adults with CMSP and so to identify the associated factors. Methods: Participants were adults with chronic low back pain, randomized into 2 groups: cases=30, controls=30. The case group followed a therapeutic education session about improving spiritual healing while undergoing physical and pharmacological therapy. The meditation method used was the Ho'oponopono (restored harmony) practice: Ancient Hawaiian secret for letting go of limiting beliefs, a gratitude and forgiveness meditation. Patients completed questionnaires assessing pain, sleep quality: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), hospital anxiety and depression scale (HAD), pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) and opioid use. The PSQI is a 19 item scale which assesses sleep quality and disturbances over a 1-month time interval. Seven component scores are derived, each scored 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (severe difficulty). The component scores are summed to produce a global score (range 0 to 21). Higher scores indicate worse sleep quality. All data were recorded at T0 (pre-meditation) and T1 (one month post-meditation). Results: A total of 60 patients with chronic low back pain were included, with a sex ratio (M/ F) of 1.4. Their average age was 56 years [20-70]. All of them were under physical and pharmacological therapy. Thirty percent of these patients received surgical treatment. There were no differences in pre-MBI pain VAS and sleep quality between cases and controls. Patients who were performing the meditation technique had no significant decrease in back pain VAS: (average pre-VAS: 6, post-VAS: 5, p=0.2) but a significant decrease in opioid use (p=0.03). PSQI score decreased from 14 to 8 (p=0.002). Compared to controls, patients undergoing MBI had significant lower post-PSQI scores (p= 0.003), less anxious thoughts (p=0.01) and lower levels of catastrophizing (p=0.02). In our series, there were positive associations between the spiritual treatment and age (p=0.003). Conclusion: By integrating Ho'oponopono meditation and other therapeutic interventions in a multi-disciplinary pain management plan, clinicians can improve treatment outcomes and potentially decrease pain-related medication utilization. REFERENCES: NIL. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: None declared.