1 1079 104 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND PHYSICAL HEALTH OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER: A META-ANALYSIS. YOGA IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE THERAPIES TO MANAGE ILLNESS. THIS META-ANALYSIS AIMED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND PHYSICAL HEALTH OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER. STUDIES WERE IDENTIFIED THROUGH A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH OF SEVEN ELECTRONIC DATABASES AND WERE SELECTED IF THEY USED A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL DESIGN TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH CANCER. THE QUALITY OF EACH ARTICLE WAS RATED BY TWO OF THE AUTHORS USING THE PEDRO SCALE. TEN ARTICLES WERE SELECTED; THEIR PEDRO SCORES RANGED FROM 4 TO 7. THE YOGA GROUPS COMPARED TO WAITLIST CONTROL GROUPS OR SUPPORTIVE THERAPY GROUPS SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER IMPROVEMENTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH: ANXIETY (P = .009), DEPRESSION (P = .002), DISTRESS (P = .003), AND STRESS (P = .006). HOWEVER, DUE TO THE MIXED AND LOW TO FAIR QUALITY AND SMALL NUMBER OF STUDIES CONDUCTED, THE FINDINGS ARE PRELIMINARY AND LIMITED AND SHOULD BE CONFIRMED THROUGH HIGHER-QUALITY, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. 2011 2 1740 49 PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL BENEFITS OF YOGA IN CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS, A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: THIS STUDY AIMED TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW THE EVIDENCE FROM RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) AND TO CONDUCT A META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES IN CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE SEARCH IN TEN DATABASES WAS CONDUCTED IN NOVEMBER 2011. STUDIES WERE INCLUDED IF THEY HAD AN RCT DESIGN, FOCUSED ON CANCER PATIENTS OR SURVIVORS, INCLUDED PHYSICAL POSTURES IN THE YOGA PROGRAM, COMPARED YOGA WITH A NON-EXERCISE OR WAITLIST CONTROL GROUP, AND EVALUATED PHYSICAL AND/OR PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES. TWO RESEARCHERS INDEPENDENTLY RATED THE QUALITY OF THE INCLUDED RCTS, AND HIGH QUALITY WAS DEFINED AS >50% OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE SCORE. EFFECT SIZES (COHEN'S D) WERE CALCULATED FOR OUTCOMES STUDIED IN MORE THAN THREE STUDIES AMONG PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER USING MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF POST-TEST SCORES OF THE INTERVENTION AND CONTROL GROUPS. RESULTS: SIXTEEN PUBLICATIONS OF 13 RCTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA, OF WHICH ONE INCLUDED PATIENTS WITH LYMPHOMAS AND THE OTHERS FOCUSED ON PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER. THE MEDIAN QUALITY SCORE WAS 67% (RANGE: 22-89%). THE INCLUDED STUDIES EVALUATED 23 PHYSICAL AND 20 PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES. OF THE OUTCOMES STUDIED IN MORE THAN THREE STUDIES AMONG PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER, WE FOUND LARGE REDUCTIONS IN DISTRESS, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION (D = -0.69 TO -0.75), MODERATE REDUCTIONS IN FATIGUE (D = -0.51), MODERATE INCREASES IN GENERAL QUALITY OF LIFE, EMOTIONAL FUNCTION AND SOCIAL FUNCTION (D = 0.33 TO 0.49), AND A SMALL INCREASE IN FUNCTIONAL WELL-BEING (D = 0.31). EFFECTS ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND SLEEP WERE SMALL AND NOT SIGNIFICANT. CONCLUSION: YOGA APPEARED TO BE A FEASIBLE INTERVENTION AND BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON SEVERAL PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SYMPTOMS WERE REPORTED. IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER, EFFECT SIZE ON FUNCTIONAL WELL-BEING WAS SMALL, AND THEY WERE MODERATE TO LARGE FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES. 2012 3 559 44 COULD YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVE TREATMENT-RELATED SIDE EFFECTS AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. AIM: TO DETERMINE IF YOGA AS A COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH ENHANCED HEALTH AND TREATMENT-RELATED SIDE EFFECTS IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW EXAMINES WHETHER YOGA PRACTICE PROVIDES ANY MEASURABLE BENEFIT, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. METHODS: PUBMED, EMBASE AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) THROUGHOUT JUNE 2013. WE EVALUATED THE QUALITY OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES BY THE COCHRANE HANDBOOK 5.2 STANDARDS AND ANALYZED THE DATA USING THE STATA SOFTWARE, VERSION 10.0. META-REGRESSION AND SUBGROUP ANALYSIS WERE ALSO PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL PREDICTORS OF OUTCOME AND TO ASSESS HETEROGENEITY. RESULTS: SIXTEEN RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 930 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. COMPARING YOGA GROUPS TO CONTROL GROUPS, THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN OVERALL HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS. META-REGRESSION ANALYSES REVEALED THAT THE DURATION OF YOGA PRACTICE AND TYPE OF CONTROL GROUP PARTLY EXPLAINED THE HETEROGENEITY. SUBGROUP ANALYSES REVEALED THAT YOGA HAD A POSITIVE EFFECT ON ANXIETY ONLY WHEN IT HAD BEEN PRACTICED FOR LONGER THAN 3 MONTHS. ONLY THE WAIT-LIST CONTROL GROUP SHOWED AN EFFECT OF YOGA ON PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. CONCLUSION: THE CURRENT EVIDENCE DEMONSTRATES THAT YOGA PRACTICE COULD BE EFFECTIVE IN ENHANCING HEALTH AND MANAGING SOME TREATMENT-RELATED SIDE EFFECTS FOR PATIENTS RECOVERING FROM BREAST CANCER. IN FUTURE CLINICAL STUDIES, CLINICIANS SHOULD CONSIDER THE PATIENT'S WISHES ALONG WITH THE CURRENT BEST EVIDENCE OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE IN THEIR CLINICAL DECISION-MAKING. 2017 4 2609 42 YOGA FOR QUALITY OF LIFE IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC DISEASE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC DISEASES, INCLUDING HEART DISEASE, STROKE, CANCER, AND CHRONIC PULMONARY DISEASE ARE THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AND DISABILITY WORLDWIDE. COMPOUNDING SYMPTOMS AND LOSS OF FUNCTION, PEOPLE LIVING WITH CHRONIC DISEASE OFTEN EXPERIENCE REDUCED QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL). VARIOUS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PRACTICES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO RELIEVE STRESS AND IMPROVE QOL. YOGA IS A PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PRACTICE THAT MAY BE A VIABLE APPROACH FOR IMPROVING QOL IN PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC DISEASE. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE AND SUMMARIZE THE EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON QOL IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC DISEASE. DESIGN: THE STUDY DESIGN WAS A A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH QUALITATIVE SYNTHESIS. METHODS: WE INCLUDED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS THAT EVALUATED THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON QOL OR HEALTH-RELATED QOL (HRQOL) FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC DISEASE. WE INCLUDED ONLY STUDIES THAT USED AT LEAST 1 PREVIOUSLY VALIDATED MEASURE OF QOL OR HRQOL AND SPECIFIED A MINIMUM DURATION OF FOLLOW-UP OF AT LEAST 1 WK. INTERVENTIONS: WE INCLUDED BOTH MOVEMENT-BASED AND BREATH-BASED YOGA PRACTICES. STUDIES THAT INCLUDED YOGA AS PART OF A LARGER INTERVENTION PROGRAM (EG, MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION TRAINING) OR STUDIES THAT DID NOT PROVIDE FINDINGS SPECIFIC TO YOGA WERE EXCLUDED. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: THE PRIMARY OUTCOME ANALYZED WAS IMPROVEMENT IN QOL AS MEASURED BY A VALIDATED QOL OR HRQOL SCALE. RESULTS: AMONG THE 1488 STUDIES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED ON INITIAL SEARCH, 7 ARTICLES MET ALL INCLUSION CRITERIA. FIVE STUDIES REPORTED A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE OVER USUAL CARE ALONE FOR IMPROVEMENT OF QOL IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC DISEASE, BUT THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCES WAS CLEAR IN ONLY 1 TRIAL. WE FOUND CONSIDERABLE HETEROGENEITY AMONG THE INCLUDED STUDIES AND STUDY QUALITY WAS GENERALLY LOW. CONCLUSIONS: MORE HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE VALUE OF YOGA AS AN ADJUNCTIVE APPROACH TO IMPROVING QOL IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC DISEASE. 2019 5 1042 48 EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON FATIGUE IN CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: FATIGUE IS ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENTLY REPORTED, DISTRESSING SIDE EFFECTS REPORTED BY CANCER SURVIVORS AND OFTEN HAS SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES. RESEARCH INDICATES THAT YOGA CAN PRODUCE INVIGORATING EFFECTS ON PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ENERGY, AND THEREBY MAY IMPROVE LEVELS OF FATIGUE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS TO EXAMINE THE LITERATURE THAT REPORTS THE EFFECTS OF RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON SELF-REPORTED FATIGUE IN CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS. THE ONLINE ELECTRONIC DATABASES, PUBMED AND PSYCINFO, WERE USED TO SEARCH FOR PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH ARTICLES STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON FATIGUE IN CANCER SURVIVORS. COMBINATIONS OF YOGA, CANCER, AND FATIGUE-RELATED SEARCH TERMS WERE ENTERED SIMULTANEOUSLY TO OBTAIN ARTICLES THAT INCLUDED ALL THREE ELEMENTS. STUDIES WERE INCLUDED IF THEY MET THE FOLLOWING INCLUSION CRITERIA: PARTICIPANTS WERE MALE OR FEMALE CANCER PATIENTS OR SURVIVORS PARTICIPATING IN RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED YOGA INTERVENTIONS. THE MAIN OUTCOME OF INTEREST WAS CHANGE IN FATIGUE FROM PRE- TO POST-INTERVENTION. INTERVENTIONS OF ANY LENGTH WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS. RISK OF BIAS USING THE FORMAT OF THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S TOOL FOR ASSESSING RISK OF BIAS WAS ALSO EXAMINED ACROSS STUDIES. RESULTS: TEN ARTICLES MET INCLUSION CRITERIA AND INVOLVED A TOTAL OF 583 PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE, BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS. FOUR STUDIES INDICATED THAT THE YOGA INTERVENTION RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN SELF-REPORTED FATIGUE FROM PRE- TO POST-INTERVENTION. THREE OF THE STUDIES REPORTED THAT THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS OF FATIGUE AMONG PARTICIPANTS WHO ATTENDED A GREATER NUMBER OF YOGA CLASSES. RISK OF BIAS WAS HIGH FOR AREAS OF ADEQUATE SELECTION, PERFORMANCE, DETECTION, AND PATIENT-REPORTED BIAS AND MIXED FOR ATTRITION AND REPORTING BIAS. RISK OF BIAS WAS UNIFORMLY LOW FOR OTHER FORMS OF BIAS, INCLUDING FINANCIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. CONCLUSIONS: RESULTS OF THE STUDIES INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW SUGGEST THAT YOGA INTERVENTIONS MAY BE BENEFICIAL FOR REDUCING CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER; HOWEVER, CONCLUSIONS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION AS A RESULT OF LEVELS OF BIAS AND INCONSISTENT METHODS USED ACROSS STUDIES. MORE WELL-CONSTRUCTED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS ARE NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON FATIGUE IN CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS. 2013 6 1124 32 EFFICACY OF PRENATAL YOGA IN THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DURING PREGNANCY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. WOMEN COMMONLY SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION DURING PREGNANCY. FOR REDUCING DEPRESSION, YOGA SEEMS TO BE MORE SUITABLE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN THAN OTHER PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF ITS LOW EXERCISE INTENSITY. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFICACY OF PRENATAL YOGA ON THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION DURING PREGNANCY. THREE ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FOR RELEVANT ARTICLES FROM THEIR INCEPTION TO MAY 2021, INCLUDING PUBMED, COCHRANE LIBRARY, AND SCIENCEDIRECT. PRE- AND POST-TEST OUTCOMES WERE ADOPTED TO ESTIMATE STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE WITH A 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL FOR ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF YOGA. HETEROGENEITY AMONG ARTICLES WAS DETECTED USING I(2) VALUE. A TOTAL OF 13 ARTICLES THAT CONTAINED 379 SUBJECTS WERE INCLUDED FOR META-ANALYSIS. NO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN DEPRESSION SCORES AFTER PRACTICING YOGA WAS OBSERVED FOR WOMEN WITHOUT DEPRESSION (P = 0.09) BUT SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT WAS OBSERVED FOR WOMEN WITH DEPRESSION (P = 0.001). ALTHOUGH SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN ANXIETY SCORES AFTER YOGA WAS OBSERVED FOR WOMEN WITHOUT DEPRESSION (P = 0.02), THE RESULTS OF THE SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS WERE NOT CONSISTENT, WHILE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN ANXIETY SCORES AFTER YOGA WAS ALSO OBSERVED FOR WOMEN WITH DEPRESSION (P < 0.00001). THE CURRENT EVIDENCE HAS SUGGESTED THAT YOGA HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SCORES IN PREGNANT WOMEN WITH DEPRESSION. HOWEVER, THE LEVEL OF EVIDENCE OF THIS STUDY WAS NOT HIGH. MORE ARTICLES WITH HIGH LEVELS OF EVIDENCE SHOULD BE CONDUCTED TO CONFIRM OUR CONCLUSION IN THE FUTURE. 2022 7 2354 35 UTILIZING YOGA IN ONCOLOGIC PATIENTS TREATED WITH RADIOTHERAPY: REVIEW. PURPOSE: SEVERAL TRIALS ON NONCANCER POPULATION INDICATE THAT YOGA IS ASSOCIATED WITH MEANINGFUL CLINICAL EFFECTS. THIS STUDY EVALUATED THE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES OF YOGA IN ONCOLOGIC PATIENTS TREATED WITH RADIOTHERAPY. METHODS: WE FOCUSED ON A RESEARCH THROUGH COCHRANE REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL), BIOMED CENTRAL, AND MEDLINE STUDIES UP TO MAY 2017. RESULTS: YOGA WAS FOUND TO HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL BENEFIT IN CANCER PATIENTS' DISTRESS, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION. IT ALSO DEMONSTRATED A MODERATE IMPACT ON FATIGUE AND EMOTIONAL FUNCTION AND A SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON FUNCTIONAL WELL-BEING AND SLEEP DISTURBANCES. AS FAR AS THE EFFECTS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES ARE CONCERNED, THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE. CONCLUSIONS: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS SHOWED THAT YOGA HAS STRONG BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON ONCOLOGIC PATIENTS' QUALITY OF LIFE. RESULTS OF THE CURRENT REVIEW MUST BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION DUE TO THE RELATIVE SMALL SAMPLE SIZES OF MOST OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES, WHILE A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED STUDY STANDS IN NEED FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF OUR RESULTS. 2018 8 2488 24 YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION FOR THE REDUCTION OF SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW IS TO EVALUATE THE IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR THE REDUCTION OF SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN YOUTH. TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, THERE ARE NO SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS TO DATE LOOKING AT THE REDUCTION OF SYMPTOMS OF BOTH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION. METHODS: NUMEROUS SCIENTIFIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED UP TO NOVEMBER 2018 FOR EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ASSESSING CHANGES IN SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY AND/OR DEPRESSION IN YOUTHS FOLLOWING YOGA INTERVENTIONS. QUALITY AND LEVEL OF EVIDENCE WERE ASSESSED, AND INFORMATION WAS SYNTHESIZED ACROSS STUDIES. RESULTS: TWENTY-SEVEN STUDIES INVOLVING YOUTH WITH VARYING HEALTH STATUSES WERE REVIEWED. INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS VARIED GREATLY ACROSS STUDIES REVEALING MULTIPLE FACTORS THAT MAY IMPACT INTERVENTION EFFICACY, HOWEVER 70% OF THE STUDIES OVERALL SHOWED IMPROVEMENTS. FOR STUDIES ASSESSING ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION, 58% SHOWED REDUCTIONS IN BOTH SYMPTOMS, WHILE 25% SHOWED REDUCTIONS IN ANXIETY ONLY. ADDITIONALLY, 70% OF STUDIES ASSESSING ANXIETY ALONE SHOWED IMPROVEMENTS AND 40% OF STUDIES ONLY ASSESSING DEPRESSION SHOWED IMPROVEMENTS. CONCLUSION: THE STUDIES REVIEWED, WHILE OF WEAK TO MODERATE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY, SHOWED THAT YOGA, DEFINED BY THE PRACTICE OF POSTURES, GENERALLY LEADS TO SOME REDUCTIONS IN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN YOUTH REGARDLESS OF HEALTH STATUS AND INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS. 2020 9 2592 33 YOGA FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT OPTION FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE LITERATURE USING 14 DATABASES FROM THEIR INCEPTION TO JULY 2008 AND INCLUDED ALL TYPES OF CLINICAL STUDIES REGARDLESS OF THEIR DESIGN. THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF ALL STUDIES WAS ASSESSED USING A MODIFIED JADAD SCORE. RESULTS: SEVEN STUDIES MET OUR INCLUSION CRITERIA. TWO RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS COMPARED THE EFFECTS OF YOGA WITH THOSE OF WALKING OR PHYSICAL EXERCISE. THE META-ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA FAILED TO SHOW SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF YOGA ON MENOPAUSAL COMPLAINTS INCLUDING PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOMATIC, AND VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS. TWO RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS FOUND NO EFFECTS OF YOGA ON TOTAL MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS COMPARED WITH WAIT-LIST CONTROL OR NO TREATMENT. THE REMAINING STUDIES WERE EITHER NON-RANDOMIZED (N = 1) OR UNCONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS (N = 3). THEY REPORTED FAVORABLE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. THESE DATA COLLECTIVELY SHOW THAT THE RESULTS OF RIGOROUS STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS ARE UNCONVINCING. CONCLUSION: THE EVIDENCE IS INSUFFICIENT TO SUGGEST THAT YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION FOR MENOPAUSE. FURTHER RESEARCH IS REQUIRED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THERE ARE SPECIFIC BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR TREATING MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. 2009 10 2383 31 YOGA & CANCER INTERVENTIONS: A REVIEW OF THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PATIENT REPORTED OUTCOMES FOR CANCER SURVIVORS. LIMITED RESEARCH SUGGESTS YOGA MAY BE A VIABLE GENTLE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OPTION WITH A VARIETY OF HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, PSYCHOSOCIAL AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT BENEFITS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO DETERMINE THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES FROM YOGA INTERVENTIONS CONDUCTED WITH CANCER SURVIVORS. A TOTAL OF 25 PUBLISHED YOGA INTERVENTION STUDIES FOR CANCER SURVIVORS FROM 2004-2011 HAD PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES, INCLUDING QUALITY OF LIFE, PSYCHOSOCIAL OR SYMPTOM MEASURES. THIRTEEN OF THESE STUDIES MET THE NECESSARY CRITERIA TO ASSESS CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR EACH OF THE OUTCOMES OF INTEREST WAS EXAMINED BASED ON 1 STANDARD ERROR OF THE MEASUREMENT, 0.5 STANDARD DEVIATION, AND RELATIVE COMPARATIVE EFFECT SIZES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE CONFIDENCE INTERVALS. THIS REVIEW DESCRIBES IN DETAIL THESE PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES, HOW THEY WERE OBTAINED, THEIR RELATIVE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR BOTH CLINICAL AND RESEARCH SETTINGS. OVERALL, CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES SUGGEST THAT YOGA INTERVENTIONS HOLD PROMISE FOR IMPROVING CANCER SURVIVORS' WELL-BEING. THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW PROVIDES NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EXAMINING HOW CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE CAN PROVIDE A UNIQUE CONTEXT FOR DESCRIBING CHANGES IN PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES FROM YOGA INTERVENTIONS. RESEARCHERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO EMPLOY INDICES OF CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN THE INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS FROM YOGA STUDIES. 2012 11 698 35 EFFECT OF HATHA YOGA ON ANXIETY: A META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: SOME EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT HATHA YOGA MIGHT BE AN EFFECTIVE PRACTICE TO REDUCE ANXIETY. TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF HATHA YOGA ON ANXIETY, WE CONDUCTED A META-ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT STUDIES EXTRACTED FROM PUBMED, PSYCINFO, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, AND MANUAL SEARCHES. METHODS: THE SEARCH IDENTIFIED 17 STUDIES (11 WAITLIST CONTROLLED TRIALS) TOTALING 501 PARTICIPANTS WHO RECEIVED HATHA YOGA AND WHO REPORTED THEIR LEVELS OF ANXIETY BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE. WE ESTIMATED THE CONTROLLED AND WITHIN-GROUP RANDOM EFFECTS OF THE PRACTICE ON ANXIETY. RESULTS: THE PRE-POST WITHIN-GROUP AND CONTROLLED EFFECT SIZES WERE, HEDGES' G = 0.44 AND HEDGES' G = 0.61, RESPECTIVELY. TREATMENT EFFICACY WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TOTAL NUMBER OF HOURS PRACTICED. PEOPLE WITH ELEVATED LEVELS OF ANXIETY BENEFITTED THE MOST. EFFECT SIZES WERE NOT MODERATED BY STUDY YEAR, GENDER, PRESENCE OF A MEDICAL DISORDER, OR AGE. ALTHOUGH THE QUALITY OF THE STUDIES WAS RELATIVELY LOW, THE RISK OF STUDY BIAS DID NOT MODERATE THE EFFECT. CONCLUSIONS: HATHA YOGA IS A PROMISING METHOD FOR TREATING ANXIETY. HOWEVER, MORE WELL-CONTROLLED STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO COMPARE THE EFFICACY OF HATHA YOGA WITH OTHER MORE ESTABLISHED TREATMENTS AND TO UNDERSTAND ITS MECHANISM. THIS ARTICLE IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2016 12 2677 40 YOGA IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT ON GENERAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS AND HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQL) FOR PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. METHOD: RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) WERE CONSIDERED WHETHER THEY INVESTIGATED A YOGA INTERVENTION IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. THE SELECTION OF STUDIES, DATA EXTRACTION AND QUALITY ASSESSMENT WERE PERFORMED INDEPENDENTLY BY TWO REVIEWERS. RESULTS: ONLY THREE RCTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. LOWER POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYNDROME SCALE (PANSS) TOTAL SCORES AND SUBSCALE SCORES FOR POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS WERE OBTAINED AFTER YOGA COMPARED WITH EXERCISE OR WAITING LIST CONTROL CONDITIONS. IN THE SAME WAY, THE PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HRQL AS MEASURED WITH THE ABBREVIATED VERSION OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION QUALITY OF LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE (WHOQOL-BREF) INCREASED MORE SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER YOGA THAN AFTER EXERCISE OR WAITING LIST CONTROL CONDITIONS. NONE OF THE RCTS ENCOUNTERED ADVERSE EVENTS. DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS COULD, HOWEVER, NOT BE DETERMINED. CONCLUSION: ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF RCTS INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW WAS LIMITED, RESULTS INDICATED THAT YOGA THERAPY CAN BE AN USEFUL ADD-ON TREATMENT TO REDUCE GENERAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS. IN THE SAME WAY, HRQL IMPROVED IN THOSE ANTIPSYCHOTIC-STABILISED PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA FOLLOWING YOGA. 2012 13 2689 31 YOGA IN THE WORKPLACE AND HEALTH OUTCOMES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: HEALTH PROMOTION IN THE WORKPLACE IS INTENDED TO ENHANCE EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING. YOGA PROGRAMMES ARE EASY TO IMPLEMENT AND HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF VARIOUS HEALTH CONDITIONS. AIMS: TO ASSESS THE EVIDENCE REGARDING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA PROGRAMMES AT WORK. METHODS: A SEARCH OF ELECTRONIC DATABASES OF PUBLISHED STUDIES UP UNTIL THE 1ST OF APRIL 2017. INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WERE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF ADULT EMPLOYEES AND YOGA IN THE WORKPLACE. QUALITY APPRAISAL WAS CARRIED OUT USING THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S TOOL FOR ASSESSING RISK OF BIAS IN RANDOMIZED TRIALS. RESULTS: OF 1343 PAPERS IDENTIFIED, 13 STUDIES MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. NINE OUT OF 13 TRIALS WERE CLASSIFIED AS HAVING AN UNCLEAR RISK OF BIAS. THE OVERALL EFFECTS OF YOGA ON MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES WERE BENEFICIAL, MAINLY ON STRESS. MOST OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR ENDPOINTS SHOWED NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOGA AND CONTROLS. OTHER OUTCOMES REPORTED POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA OR NO CHANGE. CONCLUSIONS: THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY SUGGEST THAT YOGA HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT ON HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE, PARTICULARLY IN REDUCING STRESS, AND NO NEGATIVE EFFECTS WERE REPORTED IN ANY OF THE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. FURTHER LARGER STUDIES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM THIS. 2019 14 227 38 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE EFFECT OF LAUGHTER YOGA ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES IN OLDER ADULTS. BACKGROUND: LAUGHTER YOGA IS ONE OF THE INCREASINGLY USED METHODS AMONG COMPLEMENTARY HEALTH APPROACHES IN THE WORLD. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LAUGHTER YOGA ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES IN OLDER ADULTS. METHODS: IN THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW, ELECTRONIC SEARCHES WERE PERFORMED IN CINAHL, WEB OF SCIENCE, COCHRANE, SCOPUS, PROQUEST DATABASES FROM MAY 2010 TO MAY 2020. THE SCREENING PROCESS WAS CONDUCTED BY TWO AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY AND FINALLY AGREED TOGETHER. THE REVIEW WAS REPORTED ACCORDING TO PRISMA GUIDELINE. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 3210 STUDIES WERE EXAMINED, AND SEVEN PUBLICATIONS (SIX QUASI EXPERIMENTAL AND ONE RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL), IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INCLUSION CRITERIA WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY AND EVALUATED. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND IN THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LAUGHTER YOGA ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION (BLOOD PRESSURE, CORTISOL LEVEL, SLEEP QUALITY) AND PSYCHOSOCIAL HEALTH (LIFE SATISFACTION, QUALITY OF LIFE, LONELINESS, DEATH ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, MOOD, HAPPINESS) IN OLDER ADULTS. CONCLUSION: LAUGHTER YOGA IS A COST-EFFECTIVE AND NO ADVERSE EFFECT IN OLDER ADULTS. IT CAN BE USED FOR HEALTH PROMOTION FOR OLDER ADULTS. 2020 15 2742 38 YOGA PRACTICE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE II DIABETES MELLITUS IN ADULTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. THE EFFECT OF PRACTICING YOGA FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE II DIABETES WAS ASSESSED IN THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW THROUGH SEARCHING RELATED ELECTRONIC DATABASES AND THE GREY LITERATURE TO THE END OF MAY 2007 USING OVID. ALL RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA PRACTICE WITH OTHER TYPE OF INTERVENTION OR WITH REGULAR PRACTICE OR BOTH, WERE INCLUDED REGARDLESS OF LANGUAGE OR TYPE OF PUBLICATION. EACH STUDY WAS ASSESSED FOR QUALITY BY TWO INDEPENDENT REVIEWERS. MEAN DIFFERENCE WAS USED FOR SUMMARIZING THE EFFECT OF EACH STUDY OUTCOMES WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS. POOLING OF THE STUDIES DID NOT TAKE PLACE DUE TO THE WIDE CLINICAL VARIATION BETWEEN THE STUDIES. PUBLICATION BIAS WAS ASSESSED BY STATISTICAL METHODS. FIVE TRIALS WITH 363 PARTICIPANTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA WITH MEDIUM TO HIGH RISK OF BIAS AND DIFFERENT INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS. THE STUDIES' RESULTS SHOW IMPROVEMENT IN OUTCOMES AMONG PATIENTS WITH DIABETES TYPE II. THESE IMPROVEMENTS WERE MAINLY AMONG SHORT TERM OR IMMEDIATE DIABETES OUTCOMES AND NOT ALL WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. THE RESULTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE AND NOT SIGNIFICANT FOR THE LONG-TERM OUTCOMES. NO ADVERSE EFFECTS WERE REPORTED IN ANY OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES. SHORT-TERM BENEFITS FOR PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MAY BE ACHIEVED FROM PRACTICING YOGA. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED IN THIS AREA. FACTORS LIKE QUALITY OF THE TRIALS AND OTHER METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES SHOULD BE IMPROVED BY LARGE RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS WITH ALLOCATION CONCEALMENT TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON DIABETES TYPE II. A DEFINITIVE RECOMMENDATION FOR PHYSICIANS TO ENCOURAGE THEIR PATIENTS TO PRACTICE YOGA CANNOT BE REACHED AT PRESENT. 2010 16 1856 46 RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW. PURPOSE: YOGA IS INCREASINGLY USED AS A COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY TO MANAGE DISEASE AND TREATMENT-RELATED SIDE EFFECTS IN PATIENTS WITH CANCER AND HAS RESULTED IN AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF STUDIES EXPLORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW EXAMINES WHETHER YOGA INTERVENTIONS PROVIDE ANY MEASURABLE BENEFIT, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. THE RESULTS WILL INFORM FUTURE RESEARCH IN THIS FIELD AND ADVANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOGA PROGRAMMES. METHODS: WE PERFORMED ELECTRONIC SEARCHES OF MEDLINE, PSYCHINFO, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, WEB OF SCIENCE AND SCOPUS FOR ARTICLES PUBLISHED UP TO JUNE 2012. ONLY RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) WERE INCLUDED AND METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY RATING SCORES WERE DETERMINED USING THE PEDRO (PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE) SCALE. RESULTS: ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO STUDIES WERE IDENTIFIED THROUGH A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH OF EIGHT ELECTRONIC DATABASES. ONLY PUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS THAT EMPLOYED A RCT DESIGN WERE INCLUDED (N = 18). THE SAMPLE SIZES FOR THESE STUDIES VARIED WIDELY FROM 18 TO 164 PARTICIPANTS AND THE ASSOCIATED PEDRO SCORES RANGED FROM 1 (POOR) TO 8 (GOOD). ALL 18 STUDIES REPORTED POSITIVE EFFECTS FOR TREATMENT-RELATED SIDE EFFECTS IN FAVOUR OF THE YOGA INTERVENTIONS, WITH THE GREATEST IMPACT ON GLOBAL QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) SCORES AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING. CONCLUSION: RESULTS FROM THE FEW RCTS SUGGEST THERE IS MODERATE TO GOOD EVIDENCE THAT YOGA MAY BE A USEFUL PRACTICE FOR WOMEN RECOVERING FROM BREAST CANCER TREATMENTS. LARGE-SCALE RCTS USING OBJECTIVE MEASURES AND PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES WITH LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP ARE NEEDED TO SUBSTANTIATE WHETHER THE BENEFITS ARE TRUE AND SUSTAINABLE. 2012 17 2915 34 [SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF YOGA FOR DEPRESSION AND QUALITY OF SLEEP IN THE ELDERLY]. BACKGROUND: AGING AND AGE-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS ARE MAJOR ISSUES OF CONCERN FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES. YOGA IS AN EXERCISE WITH BOTH PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS ON AGING. ALTHOUGH MANY STUDIES HAVE ASSESSED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA IN THE ELDERLY, LITTLE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN THE LITERATURE TO SUPPORT EMPIRICAL CONCLUSIONS. PURPOSE: THIS REVIEW SYNTHESIZES AND CHARACTERIZES FINDINGS RELATED TO THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DEPRESSION AND QUALITY OF SLEEP IN THE ELDERLY. METHODS: RESEARCHERS USED KEYWORDS INCLUDING YOGA, ELDERLY, AGED / OLDER ADULT, DEPRESSION, SLEEP, AND QUALITY TO SEARCH 6 ELECTRONIC DATABASES FOR RELEVANT STUDIES PUBLISHED PRIOR TO MARCH 2013. INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA WERE USED TO SCREEN IDENTIFIED STUDY ABSTRACTS. THE JADAD SCALE APPRAISED THE QUALITY OF IDENTIFIED STUDIES. RESULTS: SEVEN STUDIES MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. FIVE STUDIES FOUND SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN PARTICIPANT DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS AFTER DOING YOGA. THREE STUDIES FOUND SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ON THE QUALITY OF SLEEP OF PARTICIPANTS AFTER 6 MONTHS OF DOING YOGA. CONCLUSION: YOGA SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS OF ELDERLY PARTICIPANTS AND IMPROVED THEIR QUALITY OF SLEEP AFTER 6 MONTHS. FINDINGS WERE SIMILAR FOR ELDERLY LIVING IN INSTITUTIONS AND IN THE COMMUNITY. HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE ASSESSED STUDIES WERE WOMEN CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH LEVEL OF SOCIAL PARTICIPATION AND PROACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH PROMOTION ACTIVITIES. FUTURE STUDIES SHOULD BROADEN THE SCOPE OF RESEARCH TO ADDRESS DIFFERENT AGING POPULATIONS AND USE LONG-TERM COHORT OBSERVATIONS IN ORDER TO BETTER ELICIT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AND TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO INTRODUCE YOGA INTO DAILY ACTIVITIES. 2014 18 2172 35 THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DEPRESSION AND MOTOR FUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE: A REVIEW OF CONTROLLED STUDIES. BACKGROUND: PARKINSON'S DISEASE (PD) IS A NEURODEGENERATIVE/NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDER CHARACTERIZED BY BOTH MOTOR AND NON-MOTOR SYMPTOMOLOGY. THE REPORTED PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH PD IS DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN DUE TO OVERLAPPING SOMATIC SYMPTOMS AND FAILURE TO SELF-REPORT SYMPTOMS. ALTHOUGH ANTIDEPRESSANTS REMAIN A FIRST-LINE TREATMENT, THEY CAN HAVE ADVERSE EFFECTS. RECENTLY, LITERATURE HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT DUE TO ITS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES, YOGA MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE NONPHARMACOLOGIC THERAPY FOR DEPRESSION. METHODS: A SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) PUBLISHED FROM JANUARY 2000 TO JANUARY 2019 THAT ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DEPRESSION AND MOTOR FUNCTIONING IN PD. RESULTS: THREE STUDIES MET THE CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION. IN ONE RCT, BIWEEKLY YOGA RESULTED IN A DECREASE IN DEPRESSION SCORE (P = .056). IN ANOTHER RCT, WEEKLY YOGA RESULTED IN A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN DEPRESSION AND DEMONSTRATED THAT ITS THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS ARE LONG-LASTING. FINALLY, IN A THIRD RCT, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE WAS FOUND BETWEEN CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS IN DEPRESSION AFTER BIWEEKLY YOGA. HOWEVER, YOGA WAS FOUND TO BE PROTECTIVE AGAINST WORSENING OF DEPRESSION. CONCLUSIONS: OUR REVIEW SUGGESTS THAT THE PRACTICE OF YOGA MAY BE A USEFUL NONPHARMACOLOGIC ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH PD. HOWEVER, MORE CONTROLLED RCTS ARE NEEDED TO VALIDATE OUR CONCLUSIONS. 2020 19 2877 33 YOGA-SPECIFIC ENHANCEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND EXPLORATORY META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES DURING AND AFTER CANCER TREATMENT HAVE FAVORABLE PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS. INCREASINGLY, YOGA HAS BECOME A POPULAR APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) OF WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. HOWEVER, THE EXTANT SYNTHETIC EVIDENCE ON YOGA HAS NOT USED OTHER EXERCISE COMPARISON CONDITIONS. THIS META-ANALYSIS AIMED TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS YOGA-SPECIFIC EFFECTS RELATIVE TO ANY OTHER PHYSICAL EXERCISE INTERVENTION (EG, AEROBICS) FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. QOL WAS THE PRIMARY OUTCOME OF INTEREST. EIGHT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH 545 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. THE SAMPLE-WEIGHTED SYNTHESIS AT IMMEDIATE POSTINTERVENTION REVEALED MARGINALLY STATISTICALLY AND MODEST PRACTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SUGGESTING YOGA'S POTENTIALLY GREATER EFFECTIVENESS: D = 0.14, P = .10. HOWEVER, AT LONGER TERM FOLLOW-UP, NO STATISTICALLY OR PRACTICALLY SIGNIFICANT BETWEEN-GROUP DIFFERENCE WAS OBSERVED. THIS META-ANALYSIS PRELIMINARILY DEMONSTRATED THAT YOGA IS PROBABLY AS EFFECTIVE AS OTHER EXERCISE MODALITIES IN IMPROVING THE QOL OF WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. BOTH INTERVENTIONS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN QOL. NEARLY ALL OF THE YOGA INTERVENTION PROGRAMS, HOWEVER, WERE VERY POORLY RESOURCED. LARGER AND BETTER CONTROLLED TRIALS OF WELL-ENDOWED YOGA PROGRAMS ARE NEEDED. 2019 20 931 47 EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA THERAPY AS A COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT FOR MAJOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS: A META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: TO EXAMINE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA THERAPY AS A COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT FOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS SUCH AS SCHIZOPHRENIA, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD). DATA SOURCES: ELIGIBLE TRIALS WERE IDENTIFIED BY A LITERATURE SEARCH OF PUBMED/MEDLINE, COCHRANE CONTROL TRIALS REGISTER, GOOGLE SCHOLAR, AND EBSCO ON THE BASIS OF CRITERIA OF ACCEPTABLE QUALITY AND RELEVANCE. THE SEARCH WAS PERFORMED USING THE FOLLOWING TERMS: YOGA FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA, YOGA FOR DEPRESSION, YOGA FOR ANXIETY, YOGA FOR PTSD, YOGA THERAPY, YOGA FOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS, COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT, AND EFFICACY OF YOGA THERAPY. TRIALS BOTH UNPUBLISHED AND PUBLISHED WITH NO LIMITATION PLACED ON YEAR OF PUBLICATION WERE INCLUDED; HOWEVER, THE OLDEST ARTICLE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL META-ANALYSIS WAS PUBLISHED IN 2000. STUDY SELECTION: ALL AVAILABLE RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIALS OF YOGA FOR THE TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESS WERE REVIEWED, AND 10 STUDIES WERE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION. AS VERY FEW RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED YOGA FOR MENTAL ILLNESS, THIS META-ANALYSIS INCLUDES STUDIES WITH PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE DIAGNOSED WITH MENTAL ILLNESS, AS WELL AS STUDIES WITH PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE NOT DIAGNOSED WITH MENTAL ILLNESS BUT REPORTED SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL ILLNESS. TRIALS WERE EXCLUDED DUE TO THE FOLLOWING: (1) INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION, (2) INADEQUATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, (3) YOGA WAS NOT THE CENTRAL COMPONENT OF THE INTERVENTION, (4) SUBJECTS WERE NOT DIAGNOSED WITH OR DID NOT REPORT EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS OF ONE OF THE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS OF INTEREST (IE, SCHIZOPHRENIA, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND PTSD), (5) STUDY WAS NOT REPORTED IN ENGLISH, AND (6) STUDY DID NOT INCLUDE A CONTROL GROUP. DATA EXTRACTION: DATA WERE EXTRACTED ON PARTICIPANT DIAGNOSIS, INCLUSION CRITERIA, TREATMENT AND CONTROL GROUPS, DURATION OF INTERVENTION, AND RESULTS (PRE-POST MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS, T VALUES, AND F VALUES). NUMBER, AGE, AND SEX RATIO OF PARTICIPANTS WERE ALSO OBTAINED WHEN AVAILABLE. DATA SYNTHESIS: THE COMBINED ANALYSIS OF ALL 10 STUDIES PROVIDED A POOLED EFFECT SIZE OF -3.25 (95% CI, -5.36 TO -1.14; P = .002), INDICATING THAT YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS HAVE A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT AS AN ADJUNCT TREATMENT FOR MAJOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS. FINDINGS IN SUPPORT OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY INTERVENTIONS MAY ESPECIALLY BE AN AID IN THE TREATMENT OF DISORDERS FOR WHICH CURRENT TREATMENTS ARE FOUND TO BE INADEQUATE OR TO CARRY SEVERE LIABILITIES. CONCLUSIONS: AS CURRENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGIC INTERVENTIONS FOR SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF WEIGHT GAIN AS WELL AS OTHER METABOLIC SIDE EFFECTS THAT INCREASE PATIENTS' RISK FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, YOGA MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE, FAR LESS TOXIC ADJUNCT TREATMENT OPTION FOR SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS. 2011