Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of study participants
| Treatment Condition |
||
|---|---|---|
| Variable | Meditation n = 16 | Control n = 19 |
| Age*, mean ± SD | 78 ± 7.1 | 73 ± 6.2 |
| Gender, n | ||
| Male | 5 | 8 |
| Female | 11 | 11 |
| Ethnicity, n | ||
| White | 15 | 15 |
| African American | 1 | 3 |
| Asian | 0 | 1 |
| Education†, n | ||
| Low | 4 | 4 |
| Medium | 4 | 4 |
| High | 8 | 11 |
| Religious faith, n | ||
| Yes | 16 | 18 |
| No | 0 | 1 |
| Income, n | ||
| Less than $10,000 | 0 | 2 |
| $10,000–$29,999 | 4 | 5 |
| $30,000–$49,999 | 2 | 4 |
| $50,000 or greater | 4 | 4 |
| Marital status, n | ||
| Single | 0 | 3 |
| Married | 9 | 8 |
| Separated/divorced | 1 | 4 |
| Widowed | 6 | 4 |
| Low back pain cause, n | ||
| Osteoarthritis | 10 | 9 |
| Disc herniation | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown | 4 | 6 |
| Failed back surgery | 1 | 1 |
| Scoliosis | 0 | 3 |
| Spinal stenosis | 5 | 2 |
| Spondylolisthesis | 2 | 1 |
| Osteoporosis | 0 | 1 |
| Medications‡, n | ||
| Opioids | 3 | 5 |
| Other analgesics | 19 | 24 |
| None | 2 | 2 |
| Pain duration§, mean ± SD, (n) | 9.4 ± 18.1 (12) | 11.1 ± 13.7 (14) |
| Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination, mean ± SD | 29.3 ± 0.8 | 29.1 ± 1.2 |
*
Because P = 0.03 all subsequent analyses adjusted for age.
†
Low: includes ≤9th, 10th–12th and high school graduate; Medium: includes technical school and some college; High: includes college degree and master’s or above.
‡
Total number of medications >40 because participants could be on more than one type of pain medication.
§
Data inadvertently not collected on nine participants.
SD = standard deviation.