Cost-Effective Benefits

In addition to being a low-cost intervention with demonstrated efficacy, there are some data that suggest meditative practices may also reduce use of healthcare services.

In a study comparing 2,000 people who meditated with a group of non-meditators of comparable age, gender, and profession, it was found that over a 5-year period, use of medical services (visits to the doctor and hospitalizations) by the group that meditated was 30% to 87% less than the group of non-meditators (Orme-Johnson, 1987). The difference was greatest for individuals over 40 years of age.

This is the first study of its sort and needs to be replicated to isolate the meditation variable, but it is intriguing.

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