Skip to main content

Table 1 Descriptive characteristics for meditation, cancer, and health rank variables across all states (N = 50)

From: Mindfulness-based stress reduction teachers, practice characteristics, cancer incidence, and health: a nationwide ecological description

Variable

Median/mean

Range/SD

Meditation characteristics*

Median

Range

Number of certified MBSR teachers

0.16

0 - 1.12

Hours teaching MBSR

76.58

0 - 604.73

Years teaching MBSR

0.89

0 - 6.23

Years of general meditation practice

2.51

0 - 18.70

Age-adjusted cancer incidence rates (2007–2011)*

Mean

SD

Colorectal

50.17

5.32

Female Breast

123.43

7.32

Prostate

144.53

16.84

Lung & bronchus

79.36

16.35

Melanoma

25.66

5.32

Liver

10.06

2.55

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

23.07

2.10

Hodgkin’s lymphoma

3.24

0.53

Cervical

7.51

1.40

Health ranking data*

Mean

SD

Overall health

25.42

14.67

Mental health

24.69

14.56

  1. MBSR: Mindfulness-based stress reduction; SD: standard deviation.
  2. *Age-adjusted and per 100,000 population. Cancer data source: National Program of Cancer Registries: Incidence, WONDER online database. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute: 2014.
  3. Note: Cancer incidence data for 49 states and the District of Columbia were included; data for Nevada were unavailable because the cancer registry did not meet publication criteria for the years under consideration and was excluded from all analyses.