1 1609 91 META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON PHYSICAL FITNESS IN THE ELDERLY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON PHYSICAL FITNESS IN THE ELDERLY. THE FOLLOWING DATABASES WERE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED IN 25 MARCH 2021: COCHRANE, PUBMED AND EMBASE. A TOTAL OF 656 PAPERS WAS IDENTIFIED THROUGH KEY WORD COMBINATIONS, FINALLY, 12 STUDIES WERE INCLUDED IN THE META-ANALYSIS. THE MAIN CONCLUSIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS. FIRST, YOGA PRACTICE SHOWED MODERATELY POSITIVE EFFECTS ON MUSCLE STRENGTH, BALANCE, MOBILITY, AND LOWER BODY FLEXIBILITY, BUT HAD NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE AND UPPER BODY FLEXIBILITY. SECOND, SUB-GROUP ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT SUBJECTS IN THEIR 60S AND 70S AND YOGA PRACTICE FOR 9-12 WEEKS HAD A LARGE POSITIVE EFFECT ON PHYSICAL FITNESS. YOGA IS A MULTIMODAL ACTIVITY THAT IMPROVES MUSCLE STRENGTH, BALANCE, AND FLEXIBILITY IN THE ELDERLY, AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY POLICIES SHOULD CONTINUE TO PROMOTE YOGA AS AN ACTIVITY THAT ENHANCES PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELLBEING IN THIS POPULATION. 2021 2 1088 32 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SYMPTOMS, PHYSICAL FUNCTION, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES IN ADULTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS: A FOCUSED REVIEW. OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA) IS A HIGHLY PREVALENT AND DISABLING CHRONIC CONDITION. BECAUSE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS A KEY COMPONENT IN OA MANAGEMENT, EFFECTIVE EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS ARE NEEDED. YOGA IS AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR MULTIMODAL MIND-BODY EXERCISE THAT AIMS TO PROMOTE FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, ENDURANCE, AND BALANCE. ITS GENTLE APPROACH IS POTENTIALLY A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE EXERCISE OPTION FOR MANAGING OA. THE PURPOSE OF THIS FOCUSED REVIEW IS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON OA SYMPTOMS AND PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES. A COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED USING SEVEN ELECTRONIC DATABASES. TWELVE REPORTS MET INCLUSION CRITERIA INVOLVING A TOTAL OF 589 PARTICIPANTS WITH OA-RELATED SYMPTOMS. A VARIETY OF TYPES, FREQUENCIES, AND DURATIONS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS WERE REPORTED; HATHA AND IYENGAR YOGA WERE THE MOST COMMONLY USED TYPES. FREQUENCY OF INTERVENTION RANGED FROM ONCE A WEEK TO 6 DAYS A WEEK. DURATION OF THE INTERVENTIONS RANGED FROM 45 TO 90 MINS PER SESSION FOR 6 TO 12 WKS. YOGA INTERVENTION RESULTED IN REDUCTIONS IN PAIN, STIFFNESS, AND SWELLING, BUT RESULTS ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEING WERE INCONCLUSIVE BECAUSE OF A VARIETY OF OUTCOME MEASURES BEING USED. 2016 3 2152 31 THE EFFECTS OF SELECTED ASANAS IN IYENGAR YOGA ON FLEXIBILITY: PILOT STUDY. IN RECENT YEARS THE PRACTICE OF YOGA HAS GAINED POPULARITY AS A FORM OF PHYSICAL FITNESS AND EXERCISE, AND HAS BEEN SAID TO IMPROVE STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF A SIX WEEK IYENGAR YOGA INTERVENTION ON FLEXIBILITY. N = 16 LOW TO MODERATELY ACTIVE FEMALES (52.37 +/- 7.79 YEARS) ATTENDED IYENGAR YOGA PRACTICE FOR A TOTAL OF 6 WEEKS, CONSISTING OF ONE 90 MIN SESSION PER WEEK. LUMBAR AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY WERE ASSESSED PRE AND POST-INTERVENTION USING A STANDARD SIT AND REACH TEST. THE RESULTS SHOW A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN FLEXIBILITY, INDICATING 6 WEEKS OF SINGLE SESSION YOGA TRAINING MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN INCREASING ERECTOR SPINAE AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY. THIS IS IMPORTANT WHEN CONSIDERING THAT MUCH OF THE POPULATION FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ATTEND MORE THAN ONE SESSION A WEEK INTO THEIR TRAINING SCHEDULE. 2014 4 947 30 EFFECTS OF A 4-MONTH ANANDA YOGA PROGRAM ON PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR PERSONS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. OBJECTIVES: YOGA HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR ADDRESSING PROBLEMS WITH STRENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, BALANCE, GAIT, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND CONCENTRATION. VARYING DEGREES OF THESE PROBLEMS OCCUR IN INDIVIDUALS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS). THIS STUDY EXAMINED THE EFFECTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE, 4-MONTH YOGA PROGRAM ON STRENGTH, MOBILITY, BALANCE, RESPIRATORY FUNCTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MS. METHODS: TWENTY FOUR INDIVIDUALS WITH MS PARTICIPATED IN AN INTENSIVE ANANDA YOGA TRAINING FOLLOWED BY 17 WEEKS OF HOME PRACTICE. RESULTS: SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH, BALANCE, AND PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW AND A TREND TOWARD IMPROVEMENTS IN MENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES WERE DETECTED FOLLOWING THE INTERVENTION. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS OF THIS EXPLORATORY STUDY SUGGEST THAT YOGA CAN HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PERSONS WITH MILD TO MODERATE MS. 2013 5 2559 32 YOGA FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVES: TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP) USING A META-ANALYTICAL APPROACH. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) THAT EXAMINED PAIN ANDOR FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY AS TREATMENT OUTCOMES WERE INCLUDED. POST-TREATMENT AND FOLLOW-UP OUTCOMES WERE ASSESSED. METHODS: A COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH OF RELEVANT ELECTRONIC DATABASES, FROM THE TIME OF THEIR INCEPTION UNTIL NOVEMBER 2011, WAS CONDUCTED. COHEN'S D EFFECT SIZES WERE CALCULATED AND ENTERED IN A RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL. RESULTS: EIGHT RCTS MET THE CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION (EIGHT ASSESSING FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY AND FIVE ASSESSING PAIN) AND INVOLVED A TOTAL OF 743 PATIENTS. AT POST-TREATMENT, YOGA HAD A MEDIUM TO LARGE EFFECT ON FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY (D=0.645) AND PAIN (D=0.623). DESPITE A WIDE RANGE OF YOGA STYLES AND TREATMENT DURATIONS, HETEROGENEITY IN POST-TREATMENT EFFECT SIZES WAS LOW. FOLLOW-UP EFFECT SIZES FOR FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY AND PAIN WERE SMALLER, BUT REMAINED SIGNIFICANT (D=0.397 AND D=0.486, RESPECTIVELY); HOWEVER, THERE WAS A MODERATE TO HIGH LEVEL OF VARIABILITY IN THESE EFFECT SIZES. DISCUSSION: THE RESULTS OF THE PRESENT STUDY INDICATE THAT YOGA MAY BE AN EFFICACIOUS ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT FOR CLBP. THE STRONGEST AND MOST CONSISTENT EVIDENCE EMERGED FOR THE SHORT-TERM BENEFITS OF YOGA ON FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY. HOWEVER, BEFORE ANY DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS CAN BE DRAWN, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED. IN PARTICULAR, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT FUTURE RCTS INCLUDE AN ACTIVE CONTROL GROUP TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA HAS SPECIFIC TREATMENT EFFECTS AND WHETHER YOGA OFFERS ANY ADVANTAGES OVER TRADITIONAL EXERCISE PROGRAMS AND OTHER ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES FOR CLBP. 2013 6 228 32 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON PAIN, PHYSICAL FUNCTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLDER ADULTS WITH CHRONIC MUSCULOSKELETAL CONDITIONS. OBJECTIVES: EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS SUITABLE FOR OLDER ADULTS CAN HELP TO SLOW AND MANAGE AGE-RELATED CONDITIONS. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW LOOKS AT AGE-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL CONDITIONS IN A POPULATION WITH A MEAN AGE OVER 50 YEARS, EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR PAIN, PHYSICAL FUNCTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE. METHODS: CENTRAL,CINAHL, PUBMED, PSYCINFO, SCOPUS, SPORTS DISCUS, WEB OF SCIENCE CORE COLLECTION, AND GOOGLE SCHOLAR WERE SEARCHED. STUDY SELECTION AND QUALITY SCREENING USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL WERE CONDUCTED BY TWO REVIEWERS TO MITIGATE BIAS. PRISMA GUIDELINES WERE FOLLOWED IN CONDUCTING AND REPORTING THE REVIEW. RESULTS: 11 STUDIES MET INCLUSION CRITERIA WITH A TOTAL SAMPLE OF 2221 (>/=70% FEMALE). EIGHT STUDIES MEASURED PAIN, SIX SHOWING SIGNIFICANT EFFECTIVENESS (P=/=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 18 2105 27 THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON MENSTRUAL DISORDERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: TO SUMMARIZE AND EVALUATE EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON MENSTRUAL DISORDERS. METHODS: PUBMED, CINAHL/MEDLINE, WEB OF SCIENCE, AMED, AND SCOPUS WERE SEARCHED FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LITERATURE RELEVANT TO THE REVIEW QUESTION. ALL PRIMARY RESEARCH STUDIES WERE INCLUDED. RESULTS: FIFTEEN STUDIES DESCRIBED IN 18 PAPERS WERE INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW. A RANGE OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS WERE USED. SOME STUDIES USED A COMBINATION OF ASANA, PRANAYAMA, AND OTHER YOGIC RELAXATION OR MEDITATION TECHNIQUES. ALL INCLUDED STUDIES REPORTED SOME CHANGE IN THEIR OUTCOME MEASURES, SUGGESTING REDUCED SYMPTOMS OF MENSTRUAL DISTRESS FOLLOWING A YOGA INTERVENTION; HOWEVER, THE HETEROGENEITY AND INTENSITY OF THE INTERVENTIONS AND OUTCOME MEASURES MEANT THAT FINDINGS HAVE LIMITED GENERALIZABILITY AND APPLICABILITY IN PRACTICE SETTINGS. CONCLUSIONS: FURTHER RESEARCH ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOGA PRACTICE AND MENSTRUAL DISORDERS IS WARRANTED, BUT THERE MUST BE BOTH CONSISTENCY IN THE METHODS, MEASURES, AND QUALITY OF STUDIES AND A SHIFT TOWARD RESEARCH ON YOGA PRACTICES THAT ARE REPLICABLE OUTSIDE OF THE CLINICAL TRIAL SETTING. 2017 19 227 27 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 20 2915 30 [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