The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on Depression, Cognition, and Immunity in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Feasibility Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 Participant flow through the trial.

Table 1 Demographics and Test Performance at Baseline (Mean, SD) for MSBR (n=12) and Control (n=8) Group

	Overall (n=20)	MBSR (n=12)	Control (n=8)	Group Effect (p)
Age (range 57–91 y) Mean ± SD	74 ± 6.9	73.83 ± 7.04	74.25 ± 7.25	0.374
Gender (Female/Male)	13/7	6/6	7/1	0.213
Education years	14.3 ± 2.79	14.08 ± 3.08	14.63 ± 2.45	0.611
MMSE Mean ± SD	27.26 ± 1.63	26.82 ± 1.72	27.875 ± 1.36	0.302
GDS score Mean ± SD	4.9 ± 3.39	6 ± 3.19	3.25 ± 3.15	0.075
BAI score Mean ± SD	11.45 ± 11.22	14.92 ± 12.42	6.25 ± 6.92	0.053
Shalom Mean ± SD	36.7 ± 11.73	39.5 ± 10.03	32.5 ± 13.47	0.231

Table 2 Test Performance (Median, Interquartile Range) and Results for MBSR (n=12) and Control (n=8) Group, Obtained by One-Sample Wilcoxon Test

	Baseline	Visit 2	Visit 3	Visit 2 vs Baseline			Visit 3 vs Baseline
	Median (IQR)	Median (IQR)	Median (IQR)	Median (IQR)	p	d	Median (IQR)	p	d
MSBR group, n=12
Memory score	0.01 (−0.89–0.32)	0.07 (−0.64–0.32)	0.05 (−0.65–0.32)	−0.06 (−0.35–0.3)	1	−0.103	−0.21 (−0.33–0.22)	1	−0.521
Executive functions	−0.05 (−0.3–0.38)	0.11 (−0.51–0.38)	0.01 (−0.4–0.38)	−0.08 (−0.44–0.15)	1	−0.182	−0.11 (−0.26–0.42)	1	−0.191
Cogstate DET	2.56 (2.52–2.68)	2.53 (2.48–2.68)	2.54 (2.48–2.68)	−0.04 (−0.07 – −0.02)	0.178	−0.685	−0.03 (−0.08–0.02)	0.883	−0.306
Cogstate IDN	2.76 (2.71–2.81)	2.72 (2.71–2.81)	2.75 (2.73–2.81)	−0.02 (−0.04–0.01)	0.647	−0.53	−0.02 (−0.05–0.01)	1	−0.312
Cogstate OCL	0.93 (0.86–1.04)	0.93 (0.86–1.04)	0.91 (0.82–1.04)	−0.01 (−0.04–0.07)	1	−0.114	−0.04 (−0.11–0.02)	1	−0.38
Cogstate ONB	1.27 (1.15–1.39)	1.23 (1.07–1.39)	1.26 (1.11–1.39)	0 (−0.09–0.11)	1	0	0 (−0.08–0.05)	1	0
GDS	5.5 (4.5–8.25)	3 (1–8.25)	2.5 (1–8.25)	−3.5 (−4.25 – −1.75)	0.03	−1.398	−2 (−5.25 – −1)	0.046	−0.559
BAI	11 (8.25–17.5)	10.5 (4–17.5)	11 (7.25–17.5)	−1.5 (−10 – 4.25)	1	−0.147	−1.5 (−5 – 2.75)	1	−0.141
Control group, n=8
Memory score	0.24 (−0.74–0.82)	0.25 (−0.32–1.29)	0.45 (−0.57–0.97)	0.03 (−0.65–0.74)	1	0.034	0.1 (−0.08–0.5)	0.834	0.156
Executive functions	−0.32 (−0.4–0.08)	0 (−0.22–0.19)	−0.28 (−0.35 – −0.09)	0.18 (−0.23–0.66)	1	0.286	−0.02 (−0.28–0.05)	0.834	−0.061
Cogstate DET	2.52 (2.46–2.58)	2.53 (2.52–2.64)	2.52 (2.47–2.6)	0.04 (0–0.08)	0.560	0.72	−0.01 (−0.04–0.07)	0.834	−0.200
Cogstate IDN	2.74 (2.69–2.75)	2.71 (2.7–2.75)	2.73 (2.71–2.75)	0.01 (−0.04–0.02)	1	0.112	−0.01 (−0.02–0.01)	0.834	−0.203
Cogstate OCL	1 (0.98–1.02)	0.95 (0.9–0.97)	0.85 (0.82–0.93)	−0.07 (−0.08 – −0.03)	0.114	−1.767	−0.15 (−0.17 – −0.08)	0.114	−1.751
Cogstate ONB	1.21 (1.1–1.34)	1.32 (1.22–1.34)	1.16 (0.97–1.23)	−0.04 (−0.12–0.1)	1	−0.167	−0.14 (−0.2 – −0.08)	0.296	−0.841
GDS	3 (0.75–4.5)	2 (1.75–2.25)	4 (1.75–5.75)	0 (−1.25–1)	1	0	0 (−0.25–2.5)	0.834	0
BAI	5.5 (1.75–7)	2.5 (1–9.5)	7.5 (3.5–9.25)	−0.5 (−4 – 1.5)	1	−0.085	2 (0–2.5)	0.338	0.974

Note: Bold formatting indicates significant results.

Abbreviations: p, adjusted p-value (Hochberg correction for multiple testing), d, effect size.

Table 3 Results for MBSR (n=12) and Control (n=8) Between-Group Comparison, Obtained by Mann–Whitney Test

	MSBR vs Control Group
	Visit 2 vs Baseline		Visit 3 vs Baseline
	p	d	p	d
Memory score	0.938	−0.124	0.847	−0.616
Executive functions	0.885	−0.494	0.847	−0.195
Cogstate DET	0.049	−1.429	0.847	−0.187
Cogstate IDN	0.938	−0.560	0.847	−0.099
Cogstate OCL	0.352	0.739	0.195	1.267
Cogstate ONB	0.938	0.179	0.847	0.808
GDS	0.112	−1.464	0.05	−0.64
BAI	0.938	−0.114	0.847	−0.416

Note: Bold formatting indicates significant results.

Table 4 Changes in Imunophenotype (Mean, SD) for MSBR (n=12) and Control (n=8) Group, Obtained by One-Sample Wilcoxon Test

	Baseline (Mean ± SD)	Visit 2 (Mean ± SD)	Wilcoxon Test Value	p-value	Baseline (Mean ± SD)	Visit 2 (Mean ± SD)	Wilcoxon Test Value	p-value
% phagocyting cells	15.10 ± 6.82	14.58 ± 9.52	31.00	0.57	19.61 ± 7.13	16.51 ± 9.60	4.00	0.22
Monocyte subsets
Classical (%)	84.58 ± 4.33	80.14 ±5.72	8.00	0.05	82.21 ± 6.39	81.90 ± 6.49	7.00	1.00
Intermediate (%)	4.29 ± 2.05	5.43 ± 2.41	57.00	0.53	4.92 ± 2.50	4.45 ± 1.90	10.00	1.00
Non-classical (%)	5.05 ± 2.78	7.06 ± 3.74	67.50	0.08	6.50 ± 3.50	6.60 ± 2.37	13.00	1.00
Changes in activation of monocyte subsets
MHC-II on classical (GMF)	442.00 ± 94.58	465.33 ± 90.98	50.50	0.39	466.83 ± 122.54	413.33 ± 99.63	4.00	0.22
MHC-II on intermediate (GMF)	1203.67 ± 298.74	1262.08 ± 306.91	43.00	0.79	1349.0 ± 368.96	1363.83 ± 318.88	12.00	0.84
MHC-II on non-classical (GMF)	608.33 ± 202.94	580.25 ± 168.65	27.00	0.38	692.33 ± 236.97	629.67 ± 190.19	5.00	0.31
CD86 on classical (GMF)	363.17 ± 39.15	290.83 ± 68.84	5.00	0.01	359.50 ± 51.27	318.33 ± 41.83	0.00	0.03
CD86 on intermediate (GMF)	562.08 ± 118.49	507.75 ± 124.79	12.00	0.03	535.50 ± 81.35	494.50 ± 79.41	1.00	0.06
CD86 on non-classical (GMF)	393.50 ± 117.62	357.17 ± 84.07	23.50	0.24	384.0 ± 100.02	371.17 ± 48.76	6.00	0.40
Plasma analysis
hsCRP (mg/l)	1.57 ± 1.65	1.49 ± 1.55	−11.00	0.63	1.72 ± 1.66	1.15 ± 1.62	−7.00	0.56
IL-6 (pg/mL)	1.57 ± 0.65	2.00 ± 1.31	24.00	0.32	2.40 ± 1.82	2.48 ± 2.86	2.00	0.95
TNF-α (pg/mL)	1.12 ± 0.32	1.29 ± 0.44	38.00	0.10	1.07 ± 0.38	1.02 ± 0.37	−20.00	0.20

Note: Bold formatting indicates significant results.

Figure 2 Adherence to home practice (A), the most and the least popular practices (B), the most appreciated aspects of MBSR (C) and the challenging aspects of MBSR (D).