Sociodemographic Characteristics and Health Status of Mindfulness Users in the United States

The aims of the present study are to provide population estimates for the prevalence of mindfulness use in the United States and to identify which groups are more likely to self-report mindfulness use. Using data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the current study analyzed 26,742 responses from adults in the United States and estimated patterns in the likelihood of self-reported mindfulness use across groups using logistic regression models. The results suggest that 5% of adults in the United States in 2017 had used mindfulness over the prior year, which is significantly more than the finding that 2% of adults in the United States had used mindfulness during the 12 months prior to the 2012 NHIS interview. The logistic regression models show that self-reported mindfulness use was less likely among married adults and more likely among women, sexual minorities, young and middle-aged adults, white adults, employed adults, adults without minor children in the family, adults from the West of the United States, adults with access barriers to healthcare, adults with cost barriers to healthcare, adults with mental illness, and adults with physical pain. Most notably, mindfulness use was reported by substantial numbers of respondents with access barriers to healthcare (10%), cost barriers to healthcare (9%), mental illness (15%), or physical pain (7%). The results of the present study suggest an unequal distribution of mindfulness use across groups in the United States.