Project 467260

Chronic non-cancer pain, encompassing several multifaceted conditions, imposes substantial personal and societal burden worldwide, with yearly costs of approximately $40 billion in Canada alone. Due to complex, poorly understood underlying causes, chronic pain conditions continue to evade efforts to develop effective treatments. Emerging evidence suggests a potential for mind-body interventions, such as slow, paced breathing (SPB) techniques, to reduce the severity of chronic pain and its associated psychological and social burdens. Although research involving SPB techniques has burgeoned over the past few years, most studies to date have involved inconsistent SPB protocols and variable outcome measures. An urgent need therefore exists to systematically evaluate SPB interventions as they relate to chronic pain conditions. Clarification is needed in terms of intervention features (e.g., breathing techniques, duration, frequency), outcome measures, and clinical contexts (e.g., specific pain disorders). In light of these gaps in the research, we propose a systematic review to examine: 1) the theoretical basis of SPB for chronic pain, including potential mechanisms affecting key pain outcomes; and 2) quality of evidence pertaining to studies of SPB. Eligible studies will be those with adult participants (18 years) reporting chronic musculoskeletal, neuropathic, pelvic, or chronic widespread pain for at least three months. Importantly, results of this systematic review will provide a framework to develop evidence-based SPB protocols based on the strongest available data. Doing so may advance efforts to bring effective, readily-accessible SPB interventions to the millions of people now suffering from chronic pain around the world.