1 1509 112 IS ONE YOGA STYLE BETTER THAN ANOTHER? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF ASSOCIATIONS OF YOGA STYLE AND CONCLUSIONS IN RANDOMIZED YOGA TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE ODDS OF POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA, DIFFER BETWEEN YOGA STYLES. DESIGN: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF YOGA RCTS. MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, INDMED AND THE TABLES OF CONTENT OF SPECIALIST YOGA JOURNALS, NOT LISTED IN MEDICAL DATABASES, WERE SCREENED UP TO 12 FEBRUARY, 2014 FOR RCTS COMPARING YOGA INTERVENTIONS TO NON-YOGA INTERVENTIONS. THE RCTS' CONCLUSIONS WERE CLASSIFIED AS POSITIVE (YOGA IS HELPFUL FOR A RESPECTIVE CONDITION) OR NOT POSITIVE; AND THESE WERE COMPARED BETWEEN DIFFERENT YOGA STYLES USING THE CHI SQUARED TEST AND MULTIPLE LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 306 RCTS WERE INCLUDED. THESE APPLIED 52 DIFFERENT YOGA STYLES, THE MOST COMMONLY USED OF WHICH WERE: HATHA YOGA (36 RCTS), IYENGAR YOGA (31 RCTS), PRANAYAMA (26 RCTS), AND THE INTEGRATED APPROACH TO YOGA THERAPY (15 RCTS). POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS WERE REACHED IN 277 RCTS (91%); THE PROPORTION OF POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS DID NOT DIFFER BETWEEN YOGA STYLES (P=0.191). CONCLUSION: RCTS WITH DIFFERENT YOGA STYLES DO NOT DIFFER IN THEIR ODDS OF REACHING POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS. GIVEN THAT MOST RCTS WERE POSITIVE, THE CHOICE OF AN INDIVIDUAL YOGA STYLE CAN BE BASED ON PERSONAL PREFERENCES AND AVAILABILITY. 2016 2 337 64 ARE INDIAN YOGA TRIALS MORE LIKELY TO BE POSITIVE THAN THOSE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE CONCLUSIONS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE POSITIVE WHEN THEY WERE CONDUCTED IN INDIA AND/OR WHEN THEY ARE PUBLISHED IN COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM) SPECIALTY JOURNALS. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, INDMED, AND THE TABLES OF CONTENT OF YOGA SPECIALTY JOURNALS NOT LISTED IN MEDICAL DATABASES WERE SCREENED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2014 FOR RCTS COMPARING YOGA INTERVENTIONS TO NON-YOGA INTERVENTIONS. THE RCTS' CONCLUSIONS WERE CLASSIFIED AS POSITIVE (YOGA IS HELPFUL FOR A RESPECTIVE CONDITION) OR NOT POSITIVE; AND COMPARED BETWEEN RCTS THAT WERE A) CONDUCTED IN INDIA VS. OUTSIDE INDIA, AND B) PUBLISHED IN A CAM SPECIALTY JOURNAL OR ANOTHER TYPE OF JOURNAL. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 306 RCTS WERE INCLUDED; 131 FROM INDIA AND 175 FROM OTHER COUNTRIES; AND 84 FROM CAM SPECIALTY JOURNALS AND 222 FROM OTHER TYPES OF JOURNALS. POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS WERE REACHED IN 277 RCTS (91%); WITH MORE POSITIVE RCTS BEING CONDUCTED IN INDIA THAN ELSEWHERE (ODDS RATIO=24.8; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL=3.3, 184.5; P<0.001) WHILE TYPE OF JOURNAL WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIRECTION OF THE CONCLUSIONS (ODDS RATIO=1.2; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL=0.5, 2.9; P=0.828). CONCLUSIONS: RCTS ON YOGA THAT ARE CONDUCTED IN INDIA HAVE ABOUT 25 TIMES THE ODDS OF REACHING POSITIVE CONCLUSIONS AS THOSE CONDUCTED ELSEWHERE. INDIAN TRIALS SHOULD BE DEALT WITH CAREFULLY WHEN EVALUATING THE HELPFULNESS OF YOGA FOR PATIENTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES AND VICE VERSA. 2015 3 2742 34 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 4 2612 38 YOGA FOR RHEUMATIC DISEASES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: TO EVALUATE THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF RECOMMENDATION FOR YOGA AS AN ANCILLARY INTERVENTION IN RHEUMATIC DISEASES. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2013. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA WITH CONTROL INTERVENTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES WERE INCLUDED. TWO AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY ASSESSED THE RISK OF BIAS USING THE COCHRANE BACK REVIEW GROUP RISK OF BIAS TOOL. THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF THE RECOMMENDATION FOR OR AGAINST YOGA WERE GRADED ACCORDING TO THE GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS. RESULTS: EIGHT RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 559 SUBJECTS WERE INCLUDED; TWO RCTS HAD A LOW RISK OF BIAS. IN TWO RCTS ON FM SYNDROME, THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN AND LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON DISABILITY. IN THREE RCTS ON OA, THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN AND DISABILITY. BASED ON TWO RCTS, VERY LOW EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN IN RA. NO EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN WAS FOUND IN ONE RCT ON CTS. NO RCT EXPLICITLY REPORTED SAFETY DATA. CONCLUSION: BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS REVIEW, ONLY WEAK RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE MADE FOR THE ANCILLARY USE OF YOGA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FM SYNDROME, OA AND RA AT THIS POINT. 2013 5 1055 27 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CHRONIC NECK PAIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. [PURPOSE] THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC NECK PAIN. [SUBJECTS AND METHODS] FIVE ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED TO IDENTIFY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON CHRONIC NECK PAIN. THE TRIALS WERE PUBLISHED IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BETWEEN JANUARY 1966 AND DECEMBER 2015. THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL WAS USED TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF THE TRIALS. [RESULTS] THREE TRIALS WERE IDENTIFIED AND INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW. A CRITICAL APPRAISAL WAS PERFORMED ON THE TRIALS, AND THE RESULT INDICATED A HIGH RISK OF BIAS. A NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION WAS PROCESSED BECAUSE OF THE SMALL NUMBER OF RCTS. NECK PAIN INTENSITY AND FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUPS THAN IN THE CONTROL GROUPS. [CONCLUSION] EVIDENCE FROM THE 3 RANDOMLY CONTROLLED TRIALS SHOWS THAT YOGA MAY BE BENEFICIAL FOR CHRONIC NECK PAIN. THE LOW-QUALITY RESULT OF THE CRITICAL APPRAISAL AND THE SMALL NUMBER OF TRIALS SUGGEST THAT HIGH-QUALITY RCTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXAMINE FURTHER THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON CHRONIC NECK PAIN RELIEF. 2016 6 2573 33 YOGA FOR ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS THOUGHT TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR HEALTH CONDITIONS. THE ARTICLE AIMS TO ASSESS THE CURRENT CLINICAL EVIDENCE OF YOGA FOR ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION (EH). STRATEGY: MEDLINE, EMBASE, AND THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL) IN THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SEARCHED UNTIL JUNE, 2013. WE INCLUDED RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS TESTING YOGA AGAINST CONVENTIONAL THERAPY, YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT, YOGA COMBINED WITH CONVENTIONAL THERAPY VERSUS CONVENTIONAL THERAPY OR CONVENTIONAL THERAPY COMBINED WITH BREATH AWARENESS. STUDY SELECTION, DATA EXTRACTION, QUALITY ASSESSMENT, AND DATA ANALYSES WERE CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO THE COCHRANE STANDARDS. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 6 STUDIES (INVOLVING 386 PATIENTS) WERE INCLUDED. THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THE INCLUDED TRIALS WAS EVALUATED AS GENERALLY LOW. A TOTAL OF 6 RCTS MET ALL THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. 4 OF THEM COMPARED YOGA PLUS CONVENTIONAL THERAPY WITH CONVENTIONAL THERAPY. 1 RCT DESCRIBED YOGA COMBINED WITH CONVENTIONAL THERAPY VERSUS CONVENTIONAL THERAPY COMBINED WITH BREATH AWARENESS. 2 RCT TESTED THE EFFECT OF YOGA VERSUS CONVENTIONAL THERAPY ALONE. 1 RCT DESCRIBED YOGA COMPARED TO NO TREATMENT. ONLY ONE TRIAL REPORTED ADVERSE EVENTS WITHOUT DETAILS, THE SAFETY OF YOGA IS STILL UNCERTAIN. CONCLUSIONS: THERE IS SOME ENCOURAGING EVIDENCE OF YOGA FOR LOWERING SBP AND DBP. HOWEVER, DUE TO LOW METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THESE IDENTIFIED TRIALS, A DEFINITE CONCLUSION ABOUT THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF YOGA ON EH CANNOT BE DRAWN FROM THIS REVIEW. THEREFORE, FURTHER THOROUGH INVESTIGATION, LARGE-SCALE, PROPER STUDY DESIGNED, RANDOMIZED TRIALS OF YOGA FOR HYPERTENSION WILL BE REQUIRED TO JUSTIFY THE EFFECTS REPORTED HERE. 2013 7 2589 29 YOGA FOR LOW BACK PAIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS. IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT YOGA HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT ON LOW BACK PAIN AND FUNCTION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT OPTION FOR LOW BACK PAIN. SEVEN DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FROM THEIR INCEPTION TO MARCH 2011. RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS WERE CONSIDERED IF THEY INVESTIGATED YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN AND IF THEY ASSESSED PAIN AS AN OUTCOME MEASURE. THE SELECTION OF STUDIES, DATA EXTRACTION AND VALIDATION WERE PERFORMED INDEPENDENTLY BY TWO REVIEWERS. SEVEN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS (RCTS) MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. THEIR METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY RANGED BETWEEN 2 AND 4 ON THE JADAD SCALE. FIVE RCTS SUGGESTED THAT YOGA LEADS TO A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER REDUCTION IN LOW BACK PAIN THAN USUAL CARE, EDUCATION OR CONVENTIONAL THERAPEUTIC EXERCISES. TWO RCTS SHOWED NO BETWEEN-GROUP DIFFERENCES. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT YOGA HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ALLEVIATE LOW BACK PAIN. HOWEVER, ANY DEFINITIVE CLAIMS SHOULD BE TREATED WITH CAUTION. 2011 8 1519 32 IS YOGA EFFECTIVE FOR PAIN? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT OPTION FOR ANY TYPE OF PAIN. METHOD: SEVEN DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FROM THEIR INCEPTION TO FEBRUARY 2011. RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS WERE CONSIDERED IF THEY INVESTIGATED YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH ANY TYPE OF PAIN AND IF THEY ASSESSED PAIN AS A PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE. THE 5-POINT JADAD SCALE WAS USED TO ASSESS METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF STUDIES. THE SELECTION OF STUDIES, DATA EXTRACTION AND QUALITY ASSESSMENT WERE PERFORMED INDEPENDENTLY BY TWO REVIEWERS. RESULTS: TEN RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS (RCTS) MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. THEIR METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY RANGED BETWEEN 1 AND 4 ON THE JADAD SCALE. NINE RCTS SUGGESTED THAT YOGA LEADS TO A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER REDUCTION IN PAIN THAN VARIOUS CONTROL INTERVENTIONS SUCH AS STANDARD CARE, SELF CARE, THERAPEUTIC EXERCISES, RELAXING YOGA, TOUCH AND MANIPULATION, OR NO INTERVENTION. ONE RCT FAILED TO PROVIDE BETWEEN GROUP DIFFERENCES IN PAIN SCORES. CONCLUSIONS: IT IS CONCLUDED THAT YOGA HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR ALLEVIATING PAIN. HOWEVER, DEFINITIVE JUDGMENTS ARE NOT POSSIBLE. 2011 9 1031 31 EFFECTS OF YOGA EXERCISES FOR HEADACHES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. [PURPOSE] TO ASSESS THE EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA EXERCISES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHES. [SUBJECTS AND METHODS] A SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED OF SIX ELECTRONIC DATABASES TO IDENTIFY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) REPORTING THE EFFECTS OF YOGIC INTERVENTION ON HEADACHES PUBLISHED IN ANY LANGUAGE BEFORE JANUARY 2015. QUALITY ASSESSMENT WAS CONDUCTED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL. [RESULTS] ONE POTENTIAL TRIAL WAS IDENTIFIED AND INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW. THE QUALITY CRITICAL APPRAISAL INDICATED A MODERATE RISK OF BIAS. THE AVAILABLE DATA COULD ONLY BE INCLUDED AS A NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION. HEADACHE INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCORES, AND SYMPTOMATIC MEDICATION USE WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUP COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP. [CONCLUSION] THERE IS EVIDENCE FROM ONE RCT THAT YOGA EXERCISES MAY BE BENEFICIAL FOR HEADACHES. HOWEVER, THE FINDINGS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION DUE TO THE SMALL NUMBER OF RCTS. THEREFORE, FURTHER RIGOROUS METHODOLOGICAL AND HIGH QUALITY RCTS ARE REQUIRED TO INVESTIGATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT YOGA EXERCISES ALLEVIATE HEADACHES, AND TO CONFIRM AND FURTHER COMPREHEND THE EFFECTS OF STANDARDIZED YOGA PROGRAMS ON HEADACHES. 2015 10 2569 39 YOGA FOR DEPRESSION: THE RESEARCH EVIDENCE. BACKGROUND: YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS MAY PROVE TO BE AN ATTRACTIVE OPTION FOR THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY IS TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW THE RESEARCH EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR THIS INDICATION. METHODS: SEARCHES OF THE MAJOR BIOMEDICAL DATABASES INCLUDING MEDLINE, EMBASE, CLNAHL, PSYCINFO AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE CONDUCTED. SPECIALIST COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM) AND THE INDMED DATABASES WERE ALSO SEARCHED AND EFFORTS MADE TO IDENTIFY UNPUBLISHED AND ONGOING RESEARCH. SEARCHES WERE CONDUCTED BETWEEN JANUARY AND JUNE 2004. RELEVANT RESEARCH WAS CATEGORISED BY STUDY TYPE AND APPRAISED. CLINICAL COMMENTARIES WERE OBTAINED FOR STUDIES REPORTING CLINICAL OUTCOMES. RESULTS: FIVE RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE LOCATED, EACH OF WHICH UTILISED DIFFERENT FORMS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS AND IN WHICH THE SEVERITY OF THE CONDITION RANGED FROM MILD TO SEVERE. ALL TRIALS REPORTED POSITIVE FINDINGS BUT METHODOLOGICAL DETAILS SUCH AS METHOD OF RANDOMISATION, COMPLIANCE AND ATTRITION RATES WERE MISSING. NO ADVERSE EFFECTS WERE REPORTED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FATIGUE AND BREATHLESSNESS IN PARTICIPANTS IN ONE STUDY. LIMITATIONS: NO LANGUAGE RESTRICTIONS WERE IMPOSED ON THE SEARCHES CONDUCTED BUT NO SEARCHES OF DATABASES IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH WERE INCLUDED. CONCLUSIONS: OVERALL, THE INITIAL INDICATIONS ARE OF POTENTIALLY BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS. VARIATION IN INTERVENTIONS, SEVERITY AND REPORTING OF TRIAL METHODOLOGY SUGGESTS THAT THE FINDINGS MUST BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION. SEVERAL OF THE INTERVENTIONS MAY NOT BE FEASIBLE IN THOSE WITH REDUCED OR IMPAIRED MOBILITY. NEVERTHELESS, FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF YOGA AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION IS WARRANTED. 2005 11 1064 32 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON IMMUNE FUNCTION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ATTEMPTS TO CONFIRM THE ADDED EVIDENCE TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON IMMUNE FUNCTION. METHODS: THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, PUBMED, AND WEB OF SCIENCE ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED ACCORDING TO THE PRISRMA METHOD TO IDENTIFY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) ON THE IMMUNOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF YOGA PUBLISHED IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FROM JANUARY 1, 2017, TO DECEMBER 31, 2020. THIS REVIEW COULD ONLY BE DESCRIPTIVELY SUMMARIZED BECAUSE OF HETEROGENEITY OF THE INCLUDED RCTS. RESULTS: ELEVEN POTENTIAL TRIALS WERE IDENTIFIED AND INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW. QUALITY APPRAISAL OF INCLUDED TRIALS RANGED FROM 3 FOR UNCLEAR RISK OF BIAS AND 8 FOR HIGH RISK OF BIAS. THERE IS EVIDENCE FROM 11 RCTS THAT YOGA MAY HAVE FAVORABLE EFFECTS FOR REDUCING THE LEVELS OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MARKERS. CONCLUSIONS: YOGA MAY BE USED AS A COMPLEMENTARY INTERVENTION FOR CLINICAL POPULATIONS OR HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. 2021 12 1516 28 IS YOGA AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN COMPARED WITH OTHER CARE MODALITIES - A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS TO ASSESS RANDOMIZED-CONTROL TRIALS (RCTS) TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP) COMPARED WITH OTHER CARE MODALITIES. METHODS: A SEARCH STRATEGY WAS FORMULATED WITH KEY CONCEPTS IDENTIFIED USING THE PICO PROCESS. FOUR DATABASES WERE SEARCHED IN JUNE 2012. APPROPRIATE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA WERE SET AND IMPLEMENTED. RESULTS: FOUR RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. ALL FOUR PAPERS FOUND THAT YOGA LEAD TO A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN BACK FUNCTION, AND THREE DEMONSTRATED A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN BACK PAIN WHEN COMPARED WITH CERTAIN CARE MODALITIES. ALL PAPERS HAD SIGNIFICANT LIMITATIONS IDENTIFIED, HOWEVER. CONCLUSIONS: GIVEN THE LIMITATIONS IDENTIFIED WITHIN THE STUDIES, THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN MUST BE CONSIDERED CONSERVATIVELY. ALTHOUGH EARLY RESULTS APPEAR PROMISING, BUT FURTHER WELL-DESIGNED RCTS ARE WARRANTED, WITH MULTIPLE, SPECIFIED COMPARATOR CARE MODALITIES BEFORE FIRM CONCLUSIONS CAN BE GAINED. 2013 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 2181 38 THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING AND HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLDER ADULTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: THE GOAL WAS TO REVIEW SYSTEMATICALLY THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA, COMPARED WITH OTHER EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS, FOR OLDER ADULTS AS SHOWN ON MEASURES OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING. DESIGN: THIS WAS A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH BOTH NARRATIVE SYNTHESIS AND META-ANALYSIS. DATA SOURCES: SEARCHES WERE CONDUCTED IN MEDLINE(R)/PUBMED, PSYCINFO, CINAHL, WEB OF SCIENCE, AND SCOPUS; BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF SELECTED ARTICLES; AND ONE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. METHODS: ORIGINAL STUDIES FROM 1950 TO NOVEMBER 2010 WERE SOUGHT, EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON OLDER ADULTS. THE SEARCH WAS RESTRICTED TO RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF YOGA IN SUBJECTS >/=AGE 60, AND PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH. DATA WERE EXTRACTED AND EVALUATED REGARDING SETTING, POPULATION SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS, INTERVENTION TYPE AND DURATION, COMPARISON GROUP, OUTCOME ASSESSMENT, DATA ANALYSIS, FOLLOW-UP, KEY RESULTS, AND THE QUALITY OF EACH STUDY ACCORDING TO SPECIFIC PREDETERMINED CRITERIA. RESULTS: THE SEARCH YIELDED 18 ELIGIBLE STUDIES (N=649). THE STUDIES REPORTED ON OLDER ADULTS ACROSS A RANGE OF SETTINGS, INTERVENTION INTENSITY, AND OUTCOME MEASURES. THE MAJORITY OF THE STUDIES HAD<35 PARTICIPANTS (RANGE 9-77). QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE SYNTHESIS OF THE STUDIES SUGGESTED THAT THE BENEFITS OF YOGA MAY EXCEED THOSE OF CONVENTIONAL EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS FOR SELF-RATED HEALTH STATUS, AEROBIC FITNESS, AND STRENGTH. HOWEVER, THE EFFECT SIZES WERE MODEST, AND THE EVIDENCE WAS MIXED FOR YOGA'S EFFECT ON DEPRESSION, SLEEP, AND BONE-MINERAL DENSITY. STUDIES DID NOT FIND AN EFFECT ON COGNITION. CONCLUSIONS: SMALL STUDIES WITH MIXED METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY SUGGESTED THAT YOGA MAY BE SUPERIOR TO CONVENTIONAL PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS IN ELDERLY PEOPLE. THE PRECISION OF THE ESTIMATES REMAINS LOW. LARGER STUDIES ARE NECESSARY TO DEFINE BETTER THE INTERSECTION OF POPULATIONS, SETTINGS, AND INTERVENTIONS IN WHICH YOGA IS MOST BENEFICIAL. 2012 15 1043 27 EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON FATIGUE: A META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND. RESEARCHERS AIMED AT SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEWING AND META-ANALYZING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS FOR FATIGUE. METHODS. PUBMED/MEDLINE WAS SEARCHED UNTIL JANUARY 2012 FOR CONTROLLED CLINICAL STUDIES. TWO REVIEWERS INDEPENDENTLY EXTRACTED THE DATA. THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THE STUDIES WAS ASSESSED. A META-ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED. RESULTS. NINETEEN CLINICAL STUDIES (TOTAL N = 948) WERE INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW. INVESTIGATED YOGA STYLES INCLUDED HATHA, IYENGAR, ASANAS, PATANJALI, SAHAJA, AND TIBETAN YOGA. PARTICIPANTS WERE SUFFERING FROM CANCER, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, DIALYSIS, CHRONIC PANCREATITIS, FIBROMYALGIA, ASTHMA, OR WERE HEALTHY. YOGA HAD A SMALL POSITIVE EFFECT ON FATIGUE (SMD = 0.27, 59% CI = 0.23-0.31). SEVEN STUDIES RECEIVED 4 POINTS ON THE JADAD SCORE. THERE WERE BASELINE DIFFERENCES IN AT LEAST 5 STUDIES. CONCLUSION. OVERALL, THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON FATIGUE WERE ONLY SMALL, PARTICULARLY IN CANCER PATIENTS. ALTHOUGH YOGA IS GENERALLY A SAFE THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION AND EFFECTIVE TO ATTENUATE OTHER HEALTH-RELATED SYMPTOMS, THIS META-ANALYSIS WAS NOT ABLE TO DEFINE THE POWERFUL EFFECT OF YOGA ON PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM FATIGUE. TREATMENT EFFECTS OF YOGA COULD BE IMPROVED IN WELL-DESIGNED FUTURE STUDIES. ACCORDING TO THE GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS ASSESSING THE OVERALL QUALITY OF EVIDENCE, THERE IS A MODERATE EFFECT OF THE CONFIDENCE PLACED IN THE ESTIMATES OF THE EFFECTS DISCUSSED HERE. 2012 16 1856 42 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 1109 34 EFFECTS OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: THE WORLD'S ELDERLY POPULATION IS GROWING. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY HAS POSITIVE EFFECTS ON HEALTH AND COGNITION, BUT IS DECREASING AMONG THE ELDERLY. INTEREST IN YOGA-BASED EXERCISES HAS INCREASED IN THIS POPULATION, ESPECIALLY AS AN INTERVENTION TARGETING BALANCE, FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, AND WELL-BEING. RECENT INTEREST HAS ARISEN REGARDING YOGA'S POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR COGNITION. OBJECTIVE: TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW EVIDENCE FROM RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN HEALTHY ADULTS AGED >/=60. A SECONDARY AIM WAS TO DESCRIBE INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS AND, WHERE POSSIBLE, THE EXTENT TO WHICH THESE INFLUENCED STUDY OUTCOMES. METHOD: THE REVIEW WAS CONDUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH PRISMA GUIDELINES. SEARCHES WERE PERFORMED FROM INCEPTION TO JUNE 2020 USING THE FOLLOWING ELECTRONIC DATABASES: (1) PUBMED (NLM); (2) EMBASE (ELSEVIER); (3) COCHRANE CENTRAL (WILEY); (4) PSYCINFO (EBSCOHOST); AND (5) CINAHL (EBSCOHOST). INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTS OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ASSESSING COGNITION IN HEALTHY ADULTS >/=60 YEARS. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE REVISED COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 1466 RECORDS WERE INITIALLY IDENTIFIED; SIX STUDIES (5 UNIQUE TRIALS) WERE INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW. FOUR OF THE SIX ARTICLES REPORTED SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ON COGNITION, INCLUDING GROSS MEMORY FUNCTIONING AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS. INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS AND ASSESSMENT METHODS VARIED BETWEEN STUDIES, WITH A HIGH OVERALL RISK OF BIAS IN ALL STUDIES. CONCLUSION: YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVEMENTS IN COGNITION IN HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS. ADEQUATELY POWERED RCTS WITH ROBUST STUDY DESIGNS AND LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UPS ARE REQUIRED. FUTURE STUDIES SHOULD EXPLICITLY REPORT THE INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN COGNITIVE FUNCTION. 2021 18 928 40 EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVES: ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IS A MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR (CV) RISK AND AN INDEPENDENT STRONG PREDICTOR OF CV MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. THE AIM OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW IS TO EVALUATE THE CLINICAL OR INTERVENTIONAL STUDIES THAT ASSESSED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN PARTICIPANTS OF ANY AGE OR SEX, HEALTHY OR WITH ANY CONDITIONS. DESIGN: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CLINICAL TRIALS OR INTERVENTIONAL STUDIES. DATA SOURCES: COCHRANE LIBRARY, MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, AND GOOGLE SCHOLAR DATABASES. REVIEW METHODS: DATABASES WERE SEARCHED TILL JULY 2019 FOR CLINICAL TRIALS OR INTERVENTIONAL STUDIES WHETHER CONTROLLED OR UNCONTROLLED, RANDOMIZED OR NON-RANDOMIZED STUDIES ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS. QUALITY OF THE STUDIES WAS ASSESSED BY USING PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE (PEDRO) SCALE. RESULTS: SEVEN FULL-TEXT ARTICLES (TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS = 362) THAT EVALUATED THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS WERE INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW. THERE WERE THREE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDIES AND FOUR WERE NON-CONTROLLED STUDIES (SINGLE GROUP STUDIES). FOUR STUDIES HAVE SHOWN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN ARTERIAL STIFFNESS, WHILE THREE STUDIES DID NOT FIND ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN ARTERIAL STIFFNESS. THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN YOUNG ADULTS AND ELDERLY HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS ARE ENCOURAGING. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY WAS GOOD FOR ONE STUDY, MODERATE FOR TWO STUDIES AND POOR FOR FOUR STUDIES. CONCLUSIONS: THIS REVIEW SHOWS THAT YOGA PRACTICE IS EFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING OR REDUCING THE ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN YOUNG HEALTHY AND OBESE, AND ELDERLY HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS. AS THE METHODOLOGY OF MANY STUDIES IS OF LOW QUALITY AND SAFETY MEASURES WERE NOT REPORTED, THERE IS A NEED OF QUALITY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF YOGA EFFECTS ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS AMONG HIGH RISK INDIVIDUALS. 2020 19 559 37 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 20 522 33 COMPARISON GROUPS IN YOGA RESEARCH: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE LITERATURE. OBJECTIVES: COMPARISON GROUPS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR ACCURATE TESTING AND INTERPRETATION OF YOGA INTERVENTION TRIALS. HOWEVER, SELECTING PROPER COMPARISON GROUPS IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE YOGA COMPRISES A VERY HETEROGENEOUS SET OF PRACTICES AND ITS MECHANISMS OF EFFECT HAVE NOT BEEN CONCLUSIVELY ESTABLISHED. METHODS: WE CONDUCTED A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE CONTROL AND COMPARISON GROUPS USED IN PUBLISHED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA. RESULTS: WE LOCATED 128 RCTS THAT MET OUR INCLUSION CRITERIA; OF THESE, 65 INCLUDED ONLY A PASSIVE CONTROL AND 63 INCLUDED AT LEAST ONE ACTIVE COMPARISON GROUP. PRIMARY COMPARISON GROUPS WERE PHYSICAL EXERCISE (43%), RELAXATION/MEDITATION (20%), AND EDUCATION (16%). STUDIES RARELY PROVIDED A STRONG RATIONALE FOR CHOICE OF COMPARISON. CONSIDERING YEAR OF PUBLICATION, THE USE OF ACTIVE CONTROLS IN YOGA RESEARCH APPEARS TO BE SLOWLY INCREASING OVER TIME. CONCLUSIONS: GIVEN THAT YOGA HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AS A POTENTIALLY POWERFUL INTERVENTION, FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD USE ACTIVE CONTROL GROUPS. FURTHER, CARE IS NEEDED TO SELECT COMPARISON CONDITIONS THAT HELP TO ISOLATE THE SPECIFIC MECHANISMS OF YOGA'S EFFECTS. 2014