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Cost-Effectiveness of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Methodology

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Abstract

The conflicting challenges of increased patient demand and decreased health care resources require a partial shift in responsibility from the health care system back to the individual. Our objective was to see if participation in a group program (mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)) that reduces stress and fosters self-care impacted health care utilization. We did a prospective study of 1730 patients participating in an MBSR program comparing their health care utilization for 1- and 2-year pre-/post-periods with three different matched comparison groups. In both pre-intervention periods, cases had higher overall costs, numbers of physician claims, and utilization of lab facilities when compared with all three comparison groups. Participation in an MBSR program resulted in consistent decreases in utilization across all outcome variables at the 1-year pre/post interval. These decreases were significantly different than the patterns shown by the matched comparisons. Assuming 1500 MBSR participants (close to the number in the “closest” match) times an average savings of $250 would result in $375,000 in savings. These differences disappeared at the 2-year pre/ post interval with the exception of laboratory utilization. Our findings suggest that mindfulness training is effective for short-term reductions in health care use among a group of complex and heavy users. Anecdotal reports suggest MBSR participants stop their formal mindfulness practice within months of completing the program. It may well be that continuing the formal practice of mindfulness is a necessary prerequisite for maintaining the reductions in health care utilization.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded through the St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation of Toronto. The study was supported by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), which both received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC). The opinions, results, and conclusions reported in this paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the funding sources. No endorsement by St Joseph’s Health Centre, CAMH, ICES, or the Ontario MOHLTC is intended or should be inferred. The authors would like to thank St. Joseph’s Health Centre for their openness in hosting the clinic for 7 years and their research department for their assistance in having this paper come to fruition. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance and support of Peter Austin and Karen MacCon for statistical and design advice and Zindel Segal for critical comments and feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada

    Royce William Knight

  2. RR 2, 1316 Sideroad 10, Tottenham, Ontario, L0G 1W0, Canada

    Jim Bean

  3. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Andrew S. Wilton

  4. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada

    Elizabeth Lin

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  1. Royce William Knight
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Correspondence to Royce William Knight.

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Knight, R.W., Bean, J., Wilton, A.S. et al. Cost-Effectiveness of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Methodology. Mindfulness 6, 1379–1386 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0408-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0408-5

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