1 2066 172 THE CHARACTERISTICS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PREGNANCY YOGA INTERVENTIONS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS A POPULAR MIND-BODY MEDICINE FREQUENTLY RECOMMENDED TO PREGNANT WOMEN. GAPS REMAIN IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CORE COMPONENTS OF EFFECTIVE PREGNANCY YOGA PROGRAMMES. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS EXAMINED THE CHARACTERISTICS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PREGNANCY YOGA INTERVENTIONS, INCORPORATING THE FITT (FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, TIME/DURATION AND TYPE) PRINCIPLE OF EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION. METHODS: NINE ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED: MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, WHOLIS, AMED, SCIELO, ASSIA AND WEB OF SCIENCE. RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIALS AND QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES EXAMINING PREGNANCY YOGA INTERVENTIONS WERE ELIGIBLE. COVIDENCE WAS USED TO SCREEN TITLES, ABSTRACTS, AND FULL-TEXT ARTICLES. OUTCOMES OF INTEREST WERE STRESS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, QUALITY OF LIFE, LABOUR DURATION, PAIN MANAGEMENT IN LABOUR AND MODE OF BIRTH. THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S RISK OF BIAS ASSESSMENT TOOL WAS USED TO ASSESS METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF STUDIES AND GRADE CRITERIA (GRADEPRO) EVALUATED QUALITY OF THE EVIDENCE. META-ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED USING REVMAN 5.3. RESULTS: OF 862 CITATIONS RETRIEVED, 31 STUDIES MET INCLUSION CRITERIA. TWENTY-NINE STUDIES WITH 2217 PREGNANT WOMEN WERE INCLUDED FOR META-ANALYSIS. PREGNANCY YOGA INTERVENTIONS REDUCED ANXIETY (SMD: -0.91; 95% CI: - 1.49 TO - 0.33; P = 0.002), DEPRESSION (SMD: -0.47; 95% CI: - 0.9 TO - 0.04, P = 0.03) AND PERCEIVED STRESS (SMD: -1.03; 95% CI: - 1.55 TO - 0.52; P < 0.001). YOGA INTERVENTIONS ALSO REDUCED DURATION OF LABOUR (MD = - 117.75; 95% CI - 153.80 TO - 81.71, P < 0.001) AND, INCREASED ODDS OF NORMAL VAGINAL BIRTH (OR 2.58; 95% CI 1.46-4.56, P < 0.001) AND TOLERANCE FOR PAIN. THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE (GRADE CRITERIA) WAS LOW TO VERY LOW FOR ALL OUTCOMES. TWELVE OR MORE YOGA SESSIONS DELIVERED WEEKLY/BI-WEEKLY HAD A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON MODE OF BIRTH, WHILE 12 OR MORE YOGA SESSIONS OF LONG DURATION (> 60 MIN) HAD A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON PERCEIVED STRESS. CONCLUSION: THE EVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS POSITIVE EFFECTS OF PREGNANCY YOGA ON ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, PERCEIVED STRESS, MODE OF BIRTH AND DURATION OF LABOUR. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, CRD42019119916. REGISTERED ON 11TH JANUARY 2019. 2022 2 2121 84 THE EFFECTIVENESS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF PREGNANCY YOGA INTERVENTIONS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROTOCOL. BACKGROUND: THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW IS TO SYSTEMATICALLY EXAMINE THE REPORTED CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF PREGNANCY YOGA. THE REVIEW WILL USE THE FITT (FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, TIME/DURATION AND TYPE) PRINCIPLE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TO CHARACTERISE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN EVALUATED IN THE INCLUDED STUDIES. STUDIES WILL BE CATEGORISED AS EFFECTIVENESS OR EFFICACY STUDIES AND THIS CONTINUUM OF EFFICACY VERSUS EFFECTIVENESS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE FULL REVIEW. METHODS/DESIGN: THE FOLLOWING ELECTRONIC DATABASES WILL BE SEARCHED USING A DETAILED SEARCH STRATEGY: MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, WHOLIS, AMED, SCIELO, ASSIA AND WEB OF SCIENCE. RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIALS AND QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES EXAMINING PREGNANCY YOGA AND REPORTING ON EFFECT WILL BE INCLUDED. TITLES, ABSTRACTS AND FULL ARTICLES WILL BE SCREENED BY TWO INVESTIGATORS INDEPENDENTLY TO IDENTIFY ELIGIBLE STUDIES. THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S RISK OF BIAS ASSESSMENT TOOL WILL BE USED TO ASSESS STUDY QUALITY. QUALITY OF THE EVIDENCE WILL BE EVALUATED USING THE GRADE CRITERIA. A STANDARDISED DATA EXTRACTION FORM WILL BE USED TO EXTRACT DATA. EFFECT SIZES WILL BE ESTIMATED USING MEAN DIFFERENCES FOR CONTINUOUS OUTCOMES, AND RELATIVE RISKS FOR DICHOTOMOUS OUTCOME. WHERE POSSIBLE, POOLING OF EFFECT ESTIMATES WILL BE DONE USING A RANDOM EFFECT MODEL. THE OUTCOMES OF INTEREST ARE QUALITY OF LIFE, STRESS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, MODE OF BIRTH, LABOUR DURATION AND PAIN MANAGEMENT IN LABOUR. DISCUSSION: THIS REVIEW WILL SYNTHESISE THE BEST AVAILABLE EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA DURING PREGNANCY AND PROVIDE VALUABLE HIGH-QUALITY INFORMATION FOR CLINICIANS AND HEALTH POLICYMAKERS. FINDINGS WILL BE DISSEMINATED THROUGH PUBLICATION IN A PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL AND PRESENTATION AT RELEVANT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS. THE REVIEW WILL MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE APPROPRIATE VOLUME, INTENSITY AND TYPE OF PREGNANCY YOGA FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT AND MAY HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE RELATING TO PREGNANCY YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, CRD42019119916. REGISTERED ON 11TH JANUARY 2019. 2019 3 2124 53 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRENATAL YOGA ON DELIVERY OUTCOMES: A META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: THE EFFICACY OF YOGA ON DELIVERY OUTCOMES REMAINING CONTROVERSY. OBJECTIVES: TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF PRENATAL YOGA ON DELIVERY OUTCOMES. METHODS: THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, PUBMED, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE, CINAHL AND ELSEVIER DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FROM INCEPTION TO JANUARY 22, 2020, AND RANDOMIZED, QUASI-RANDOMIZED AND NON-RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS EVALUATING THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE DELIVERY OUTCOMES IN PREGNANT WOMEN WERE INCLUDED. THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY WAS ASSESSED BY THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S TOOL. META-ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED USING REVMAN 5.3. RESULTS: THIS META-ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED THAT YOGA IMPROVED VAGINAL DELIVERY, DECREASED PREMATURE DELIVERY AND BIRTH WEIGHT OF NEWBORNS, SHORTEN THE LABOR DURATION. CONCLUSION: PRENATAL YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE TO IMPROVE DELIVERY OUTCOMES AND NOT TO INCREASE THE RISK OF FETUS, WHICH IS WORTH RECOMMENDING TO PREGNANT WOMEN. BUT STUDIES INVOLVED IN THIS META-ANALYSIS WERE NOT ALL OF HIGH QUALITY. THE REGISTRATION NUMBER IN PROSPERO IS CRD42019132490. 2020 4 590 52 DETERMINING THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF YOGA IN CHRONIC STROKE CARE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: SURVIVORS OF STROKE HAVE LONG-TERM PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES THAT IMPACT THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE. FEW INTERVENTIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE COMMUNITY TO ADDRESS THESE PROBLEMS. YOGA, A TYPE OF MINDFULNESS-BASED INTERVENTION, IS SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE IN PEOPLE WITH OTHER CHRONIC ILLNESSES AND MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ADDRESS MANY OF THE PROBLEMS REPORTED BY SURVIVORS OF STROKE. OBJECTIVES: TO DATE ONLY NARRATIVE REVIEWS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED. WE SOUGHT TO PERFORM, THE FIRST SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSES OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) THAT INVESTIGATED YOGA FOR ITS POTENTIAL BENEFIT FOR CHRONIC SURVIVORS OF STROKE. METHODS: OVID MEDLINE, CINHAL PLUS, AMED, PUBMED, PSYCHINFO, PEDRO, COCHRANE DATABASE, SPORT DISCUSS, AND GOOGLE SCHOLAR WERE SEARCHED FOR PAPERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN JANUARY 1950 AND AUGUST 2016. REFERENCE LISTS OF INCLUDED PAPERS, REVIEW ARTICLES AND OPENGREY FOR GREY LITERATURE WERE ALSO SEARCHED. WE USED A MODIFIED COCHRANE TOOL TO EVALUATE RISK OF BIAS. THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF RCTS WAS ASSESSED USING THE GRADE APPROACH, RESULTS WERE COLLATED, AND RANDOM EFFECTS META-ANALYSES PERFORMED WHERE APPROPRIATE. RESULTS: THE SEARCH YIELDED FIVE ELIGIBLE PAPERS FROM FOUR RCTS WITH SMALL SAMPLE SIZES (N = 17-47). QUALITY OF RCTS WAS RATED AS LOW TO MODERATE. YOGA IS BENEFICIAL IN REDUCING STATE ANXIETY SYMPTOMS AND DEPRESSION IN THE INTERVENTION GROUP COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP (MEAN DIFFERENCES FOR STATE ANXIETY 6.05, 95% CI:-0.02 TO 12.12; P = 0.05 AND STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES FOR DEPRESSION: 0.50, 95% CI:-0.01 TO 1.02; P = 0.05). CONSISTENT BUT NONSIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS WERE DEMONSTRATED FOR BALANCE, TRAIT ANXIETY, AND OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE. CONCLUSIONS: YOGA MAY BE EFFECTIVE FOR AMELIORATING SOME OF THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF STROKE. LARGE WELL-DESIGNED RCTS ARE NEEDED TO CONFIRM THESE FINDINGS. 2017 5 1064 39 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 6 2620 77 YOGA FOR STROKE REHABILITATION. BACKGROUND: STROKE IS A MAJOR HEALTH ISSUE AND CAUSE OF LONG-TERM DISABILITY AND HAS A MAJOR EMOTIONAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT. THERE IS A NEED TO EXPLORE OPTIONS FOR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE INTERVENTIONS THAT SUPPORT STROKE SURVIVORS TO ENGAGE IN MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES TO ADDRESS LIFE CHALLENGES AFTER STROKE. REHABILITATION FOCUSES ON RECOVERY OF FUNCTION AND COGNITION TO THE MAXIMUM LEVEL ACHIEVABLE, AND MAY INCLUDE A WIDE RANGE OF COMPLEMENTARY STRATEGIES INCLUDING YOGA.YOGA IS A MIND-BODY PRACTICE THAT ORIGINATED IN INDIA, AND WHICH HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY WIDESPREAD IN THE WESTERN WORLD. RECENT EVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR PEOPLE WITH A RANGE OF PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH CONDITIONS. A RECENT NON-COCHRANE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW CONCLUDED THAT YOGA CAN BE USED AS SELF-ADMINISTERED PRACTICE IN STROKE REHABILITATION. OBJECTIVES: TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA, AS A STROKE REHABILITATION INTERVENTION, ON RECOVERY OF FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL). SEARCH METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE COCHRANE STROKE GROUP TRIALS REGISTER (LAST SEARCHED JULY 2017), COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL) (LAST SEARCHED JULY 2017), MEDLINE (TO JULY 2017), EMBASE (TO JULY 2017), CINAHL (TO JULY 2017), AMED (TO JULY 2017), PSYCINFO (TO JULY 2017), LILACS (TO JULY 2017), SCIELO (TO JULY 2017), INDMED (TO JULY 2017), OTSEEKER (TO JULY 2017) AND PEDRO (TO JULY 2017). WE ALSO SEARCHED FOUR TRIALS REGISTERS, AND ONE CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS DATABASE. WE SCREENED REFERENCE LISTS OF RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS AND CONTACTED AUTHORS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. SELECTION CRITERIA: WE INCLUDED RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) THAT COMPARED YOGA WITH A WAITING-LIST CONTROL OR NO INTERVENTION CONTROL IN STROKE SURVIVORS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: TWO REVIEW AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY EXTRACTED DATA FROM THE INCLUDED STUDIES. WE PERFORMED ALL ANALYSES USING REVIEW MANAGER (REVMAN). ONE REVIEW AUTHOR ENTERED THE DATA INTO REVMAN; ANOTHER CHECKED THE ENTRIES. WE DISCUSSED DISAGREEMENTS WITH A THIRD REVIEW AUTHOR UNTIL CONSENSUS WAS REACHED. WE USED THE COCHRANE 'RISK OF BIAS' TOOL. WHERE WE CONSIDERED STUDIES TO BE SUFFICIENTLY SIMILAR, WE CONDUCTED A META-ANALYSIS BY POOLING THE APPROPRIATE DATA. FOR OUTCOMES FOR WHICH IT WAS INAPPROPRIATE OR IMPOSSIBLE TO POOL QUANTITATIVELY, WE CONDUCTED A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS AND PROVIDED A NARRATIVE SUMMARY. MAIN RESULTS: WE INCLUDED TWO RCTS INVOLVING 72 PARTICIPANTS. SIXTY-NINE PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED IN ONE META-ANALYSIS (BALANCE). BOTH TRIALS ASSESSED QOL, ALONG WITH SECONDARY OUTCOMES MEASURES RELATING TO MOVEMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES; ONE ALSO MEASURED DISABILITY.IN ONE STUDY THE STROKE IMPACT SCALE WAS USED TO MEASURE QOL ACROSS SIX DOMAINS, AT BASELINE AND POST-INTERVENTION. THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON FIVE DOMAINS (PHYSICAL, EMOTION, COMMUNICATION, SOCIAL PARTICIPATION, STROKE RECOVERY) WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT; HOWEVER, THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE MEMORY DOMAIN WAS SIGNIFICANT (MEAN DIFFERENCE (MD) 15.30, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) 1.29 TO 29.31, P = 0.03), THE EVIDENCE FOR THIS FINDING WAS VERY LOW GRADE. IN THE SECOND STUDY, QOL WAS ASSESSED USING THE STROKE-SPECIFC QOL SCALE; NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND.SECONDARY OUTCOMES INCLUDED MOVEMENT, STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES, PAIN, AND DISABILITY.BALANCE WAS MEASURED IN BOTH STUDIES USING THE BERG BALANCE SCALE; THE EFFECT OF INTERVENTION WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT (MD 2.38, 95% CI -1.41 TO 6.17, P = 0.22). SENSITITIVY ANALYSIS DID NOT ALTER THE DIRECTION OF EFFECT. ONE STUDY MEASURED BALANCE SELF-EFFICACY, USING THE ACTIVITIES-SPECIFIC BALANCE CONFIDENCE SCALE (MD 10.60, 95% CI -7.08,= TO 28.28, P = 0.24); THE EFFECT OF INTERVENTION WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT; THE EVIDENCE FOR THIS FINDING WAS VERY LOW GRADE.ONE STUDY MEASURED GAIT USING THE COMFORTABLE SPEED GAIT TEST (MD 1.32, 95% CI -1.35 TO 3.99, P = 0.33), AND MOTOR FUNCTION USING THE MOTOR ASSESSMENT SCALE (MD -4.00, 95% CI -12.42 TO 4.42, P = 0.35); NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND BASED ON VERY LOW-GRADE EVIDENCE.ONE STUDY MEASURED DISABILITY USING THE MODIFIED RANKIN SCALE (MRS) BUT REPORTED ONLY WHETHER PARTICIPANTS WERE INDEPENDENT OR DEPENDENT. NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND: (ODDS RATIO (OR) 2.08, 95% CI 0.50 TO 8.60, P = 0.31); THE EVIDENCE FOR THIS FINDING WAS VERY LOW GRADE.ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION WERE MEASURED IN ONE STUDY. THREE MEASURES WERE USED: THE GERIATRIC DEPRESSION SCALE-SHORT FORM (GCDS15), AND TWO FORMS OF STATE TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY (STAI, FORM Y) TO MEASURE STATE ANXIETY (I.E. ANXIETY EXPERIENCED IN RESPONSE TO STRESSFUL SITUATIONS) AND TRAIT ANXIETY (I.E. ANXIETY ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS). NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND FOR DEPRESSION (GDS15, MD -2.10, 95% CI -4.70 TO 0.50, P = 0.11) OR FOR TRAIT ANXIETY (STAI-Y2, MD -6.70, 95% CI -15.35 TO 1.95, P = 0.13), BASED ON VERY LOW-GRADE EVIDENCE. HOWEVER, A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND FOR STATE ANXIETY: STAI-Y1 (MD -8.40, 95% CI -16.74 TO -0.06, P = 0.05); THE EVIDENCE FOR THIS FINDING WAS VERY LOW GRADE.NO ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED.QUALITY OF THE EVIDENCEWE ASSESSED THE QUALITY OF THE EVIDENCE USING GRADE. OVERALL, THE QUALITY OF THE EVIDENCE WAS VERY LOW, DUE TO THE SMALL NUMBER OF TRIALS INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW BOTH OF WHICH WERE JUDGED TO BE AT HIGH RISK OF BIAS, PARTICULARLY IN RELATION TO INCOMPLETENESS OF DATA AND SELECTIVE REPORTING, AND ESPECIALLY REGARDING THE REPRESENTATIVE NATURE OF THE SAMPLE IN ONE STUDY. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: YOGA HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR BEING INCLUDED AS PART OF PATIENT-CENTRED STROKE REHABILITATION. HOWEVER, THIS REVIEW HAS IDENTIFIED INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO CONFIRM OR REFUTE THE EFFECTIVENESS OR SAFETY OF YOGA AS A STROKE REHABILITATION TREATMENT. FURTHER LARGE-SCALE METHODOLOGICALLY ROBUST TRIALS ARE REQUIRED TO ESTABLISH THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A STROKE REHABILITATION TREATMENT. 2017 7 1057 43 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISORDERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS WHETHER PHYSICALLY ACTIVE YOGA IS SUPERIOR TO WAITLIST CONTROL, TREATMENT AS USUAL AND ATTENTION CONTROL IN ALLEVIATING DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH A DIAGNOSED MENTAL DISORDER RECOGNISED BY THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS (DSM). DESIGN: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS FOLLOWING THE PREFERRED REPORTING ITEMS FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES (PRISMA) GUIDELINES. DATA SOURCES: DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM ONLINE DATABASES (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PSYCHINFO, CENTRAL, EMCARE, PEDRO). THE SEARCH AND COLLECTION OF ELIGIBLE STUDIES WAS CONDUCTED UP TO 14 MAY 2019 (PROSPERO REGISTRATION NO CRD42018090441). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: WE INCLUDED RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH A YOGA INTERVENTION COMPRISING >/=50% PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN ADULTS WITH A RECOGNISED DIAGNOSED MENTAL DISORDER ACCORDING TO DSM-3, 4 OR 5. RESULTS: 19 STUDIES WERE INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW (1080 PARTICIPANTS) AND 13 STUDIES WERE INCLUDED IN THE META-ANALYSIS (632 PARTICIPANTS). DISORDERS OF DEPRESSION, POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS, SCHIZOPHRENIA, ANXIETY, ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE AND BIPOLAR WERE INCLUDED. YOGA SHOWED GREATER REDUCTIONS IN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS THAN WAITLIST, TREATMENT AS USUAL AND ATTENTION CONTROL (STANDARDISED MEAN DIFFERENCE=0.41; 95% CI -0.65 TO -0.17; P<0.001). GREATER REDUCTIONS IN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER FREQUENCY OF YOGA SESSIONS PER WEEK (BETA=-0.44, P<0.01). 2021 8 2144 46 THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION, YOGA, AND MINDFULNESS ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS IN TERTIARY EDUCATION STUDENTS: A META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: MEDITATION, YOGA, AND MINDFULNESS ARE POPULAR INTERVENTIONS AT UNIVERSITIES AND TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTES TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH. HOWEVER, THE EFFECTS ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS ARE UNCLEAR. THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDITATION, YOGA, AND MINDFULNESS ON SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS IN TERTIARY EDUCATION STUDENTS. METHODS: WE SEARCHED COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL), PUBMED, PSYCINFO AND IDENTIFIED 11,936 ARTICLES. AFTER RETRIEVING 181 PAPERS FOR FULL-TEXT SCREENING, 24 RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE INCLUDED IN THE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. WE CONDUCTED A RANDOM-EFFECTS META-ANALYSIS AMONGST 23 STUDIES WITH 1,373 PARTICIPANTS. RESULTS: AT POST-TEST, AFTER EXCLUSION OF OUTLIERS, EFFECT SIZES FOR DEPRESSION, G = 0.42 (95% CI: 0.16-0.69), ANXIETY G = 0.46 (95% CI: 0.34-0.59), STRESS G = 0.42 (95% CI: 0.27-0.57) WERE MODERATE. HETEROGENEITY WAS LOW (I (2) = 6%). WHEN COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROL, THE EFFECT DECREASED TO G = 0.13 (95% CI: -0.18-0.43). NO RCT REPORTED ON SAFETY, ONLY TWO STUDIES REPORTED ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, MOST STUDIES HAD A HIGH RISK OF BIAS. CONCLUSIONS: MOST STUDIES WERE OF POOR QUALITY AND RESULTS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION. OVERALL MODERATE EFFECTS WERE FOUND WHICH DECREASED SUBSTANTIALLY WHEN INTERVENTIONS WERE COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROL. IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER MEDITATION, YOGA OR MINDFULNESS AFFECT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OR AFFECT HAVE ANY NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. 2019 9 223 36 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON WEIGHT-RELATED OUTCOMES. INTRODUCTION: OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY ARE AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS FOR CHRONIC DISEASES AND PREMATURE DEATH. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND ANALYZE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON WEIGHT-RELATED OUTCOMES. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SCREENED THROUGH MARCH 2015 FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS ON YOGA FOR WEIGHT-RELATED OUTCOMES IN THE GENERAL POPULATION OR OVERWEIGHT/OBESE INDIVIDUALS. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL ON THE FOLLOWING DOMAINS: SELECTION BIAS, PERFORMANCE BIAS, DETECTION BIAS, ATTRITION BIAS, REPORTING BIAS, AND OTHER BIAS. RESULTS: OUT OF 445 RECORDS IDENTIFIED DURING LITERATURE SEARCH, 30 TRIALS WITH A TOTAL OF 2173 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. NO EFFECTS ON WEIGHT, BODY MASS INDEX, BODY FAT PERCENTAGE OR WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE WERE FOUND. IN STUDIES WITH HEALTHY ADULT PARTICIPANTS AN EFFECT OF YOGA COMPARED TO USUAL CARE WAS FOUND REGARDING WAIST/HIP RATIO (SMD=--1.00; 95% CI=--1.44, -0.55; P<0.001). IN STUDIES WITH OVERWEIGHT/OBESE PARTICIPANTS ONLY, EFFECTS RELATIVE TO USUAL CARE WERE FOUND FOR BODY MASS INDEX (SMD=-0.99; 95% CI=-1.67, -0.31; P=0.004). EFFECTS HOWEVER WERE NOT ROBUST AGAINST SELECTION BIAS; AND PUBLICATION BIAS COULD NOT BE RULED OUT. NO INTERVENTION-RELATED ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED. CONCLUSIONS: DESPITE METHODOLOGICAL DRAWBACKS, YOGA CAN BE PRELIMINARILY CONSIDERED A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION TO REDUCE BODY MASS INDEX IN OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE INDIVIDUALS. 2016 10 1077 44 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS META-ANALYSIS WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. DESIGN: A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH OF PUBMED, EMBASE, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, THE CHINESE BIOMEDICAL LITERATURE DATABASE, AND THE CHINESE DIGITAL JOURNALS FULL-TEXT DATABASE WAS CARRIED OUT. RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS (RCTS) EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA, VERSUS A CONTROL GROUP RECEIVING NO INTERVENTION, ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTIONING AND QOL IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER WERE INCLUDED. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF INCLUDED RCTS WAS ASSESSED ACCORDING TO THE COCHRANE HANDBOOK FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS OF INTERVENTIONS 5.0.1, AND DATA WERE ANALYZED USING THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S REVIEW MANAGER 5.1. RESULTS: SIX (6) STUDIES INVOLVING 382 PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED. THE META-ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT YOGA CAN IMPROVE QOL FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT FAVORING YOGA FOR THE OUTCOME OF QOL WAS FOUND (STANDARD MEAN DIFFERENCE=0.27, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [0.02, 0.52], P=0.03). ALTHOUGH THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION OUTCOMES--SUCH AS ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, DISTRESS AND SLEEP--WERE IN THE EXPECTED DIRECTION, THESE EFFECTS WERE NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P>0.05). FATIGUE SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: THE PRESENT DATA PROVIDED LITTLE INDICATION OF HOW EFFECTIVE YOGA MIGHT BE WHEN THEY WERE APPLIED BY WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER EXCEPT FOR MILDLY EFFECTIVE IN QOL IMPROVEMENT. THE FINDINGS WERE BASED ON A SMALL BODY OF EVIDENCE IN WHICH METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY WAS NOT HIGH. FURTHER WELL-DESIGNED RCTS WITH LARGE SAMPLE SIZE ARE NEEDED TO CLARIFY THE UTILITY OF YOGA PRACTICE FOR THIS POPULATION. 2012 11 308 45 AN EVIDENCE MAP OF YOGA FOR LOW BACK PAIN. OBJECTIVE: YOGA IS BEING INCREASINGLY STUDIED AS A TREATMENT STRATEGY FOR A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT CLINICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING LOW BACK PAIN (LBP). WE SET OUT TO CONDUCT AN EVIDENCE MAP OF YOGA FOR THE TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND RECURRENCE OF ACUTE OR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP). METHODS: WE SEARCHED MEDLINE, COCHRANE DATABASE OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS, EMBASE, ALLIED AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE DATABASE AND CLINICALTRIALS.GOV FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCT), SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS OR PLANNED STUDIES ON THE TREATMENT OR PREVENTION OF ACUTE BACK PAIN OR CLBP. TWO INDEPENDENT REVIEWERS SCREENED PAPERS FOR INCLUSION, EXTRACTED DATA AND ASSESSED THE QUALITY OF INCLUDED STUDIES. RESULTS: THREE ELIGIBLE SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS WERE IDENTIFIED THAT INCLUDED 10 RCTS (N=956) THAT EVALUATED YOGA FOR NON-SPECIFIC CLBP. WE DID NOT IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL RCTS BEYOND THOSE INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS. OUR SEARCH OF CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIED ONE SMALL (N=10) UNPUBLISHED TRIAL AND ONE LARGE (N=320) PLANNED CLINICAL TRIAL. THE MOST RECENT GOOD QUALITY SYSTEMATIC REVIEW INDICATED SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS FOR SHORT- AND LONG-TERM PAIN REDUCTION (N=6 TRIALS; STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE [SMD] -0.48; 95% CI, -0.65 TO -0.31; I(2)=0% AND N=5; SMD -0.33; 95% CI, -0.59 TO -0.07; I(2)=48%, RESPECTIVELY). LONG-TERM EFFECTS FOR BACK SPECIFIC DISABILITY WERE ALSO IDENTIFIED (N=5; SMD -0.35; 95% CI, -0.55 TO -0.15; I(2)=20%). NO STUDIES WERE IDENTIFIED EVALUATING YOGA FOR PREVENTION OR TREATMENT OF ACUTE LBP. CONCLUSION: EVIDENCE SUGGESTS BENEFIT OF YOGA IN MIDLIFE ADULTS WITH NON-SPECIFIC CLBP FOR SHORT- AND LONG-TERM PAIN AND BACK-SPECIFIC DISABILITY, BUT THE EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, WELL- BEING AND ACUTE LBP ARE UNCERTAIN. WITHOUT ADDITIONAL STUDIES, FURTHER SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS ARE UNLIKELY TO BE INFORMATIVE. 2016 12 236 45 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW: THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PREGNANCY. OBJECTIVE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS CONDUCTED TO UPDATE AND PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ANTENATAL YOGA ON PREGNANCY COMPARED TO STANDARD PRENATAL CARE. STUDY DESIGN: FOUR DATABASES WERE SEARCHED USING KEYWORDS "YOGA", "PREGNANCY", "PERINATAL CARE", "PRENATAL CARE", "POSTNATAL CARE", "POSTPARTUM PERIOD", "PERIPARTUM PERIOD", "PATIENT OUTCOME ASSESSMENT", "OUTCOME ASSESSMENT", "PREGNANCY OUTCOME", "TREATMENT OUTCOME". TRIALS WERE CONSIDERED IF THEY WERE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) PUBLISHED FROM 2011 TO 2018 AND EVALUATED AN ANTENATAL YOGA INTERVENTION. ALL STUDIES WERE ASSESSED FOR RISK OF BIAS USING THE COCHRANE CRITERIA. TRIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND OUTCOMES WERE EXTRACTED AND SYNTHESIZED DESCRIPTIVELY WHERE POSSIBLE. DUE TO HETEROGENEITY, META-ANALYSIS WAS NOT POSSIBLE. RESULTS: OF THE 175 NON-DUPLICATED STUDIES, 16 MET CRITERIA FOR FULL-TEXT REVIEW. FIVE RCTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA AND WERE INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. THE FINDINGS OF THE RCTS SUGGEST ANTENATAL YOGA MAY BE SAFE AND MAY EFFECTIVELY DECREASE STRESS LEVELS, ANXIETY SCORES, DEPRESSION SCORES, AND PAIN RESPONSE AS WELL AS INCREASING MATERNAL IMMUNITY AND EMOTIONAL-WELLBEING. CONCLUSION: YOGA APPEARS TO BE SAFE AND MAY IMPROVE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PREGNANCY OUTCOMES. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE LIMITED NUMBER OF STUDIES, MORE HIGH-QUALITY, LARGE RCTS ARE NEEDED TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT IMPROVEMENT IN OTHER PREGNANCY OUTCOMES. 2020 13 2098 43 THE EFFECT OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER (BC) ARE LIVING LONGER WITH DEBILITATING SIDE EFFECTS SUCH AS CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE (CRF) THAT AFFECT OVERALL WELL-BEING. YOGA PROMOTES HEALTH, WELL-BEING AND MAY BE BENEFICIAL IN REDUCING CRF. ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN PREVIOUS SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES, THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CRF AND QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) REMAIN UNCLEAR, PARTICULARLY IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER TYPES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (PA). OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CRF AND QOL IN WOMEN WITH BC. METHODS: ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED (MEDLINE, EMBASE CLASSIC+EMBASE AND EMB REVIEWS, COCHRANE CENTRAL CT) FROM INCEPTION TO MAY 2018. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE INCLUDED IF THEY WERE FULL TEXT, IN ENGLISH, INCLUDED A YOGA INTERVENTION, A COMPARATOR (INCLUDING NON-PA USUAL CARE OR ALTERNATE PA INTERVENTION), AND REPORTED ON CRF OR QOL. EFFECTS OF YOGA WERE POOLED USING STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) VIA A RANDOM EFFECTS MODEL. RESULTS: OF THE 2468 RECORDS RETRIEVED, 24 TRIALS WERE INCLUDED; 18 STUDIES COMPARED YOGA TO A NON-PA COMPARATOR AND 6 TO A PA COMPARATOR. YOGA DEMONSTRATED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN CRF OVER NON-PA (SMD -0.30 [-0.51; -0.08]) BUT NOT PA (SMD -0.17 [-0.50; 0.17]) COMPARATORS. ADDITIONALLY, YOGA DEMONSTRATED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN QOL OVER NON-PA (SMD -0.27 [-0.46; -0.07]) BUT NOT PA (SMD 0.04 [-0.22; +0.31]) COMPARATORS. DISCUSSION: THIS META-ANALYSIS FOUND THAT YOGA PROVIDES SMALL TO MEDIUM IMPROVEMENTS IN CRF AND QOL COMPARED TO NON-PA, BUT NOT IN COMPARISON TO OTHER PA INTERVENTIONS. 2020 14 2612 40 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 15 2859 44 YOGA-BASED EXERCISE IMPROVES BALANCE AND MOBILITY IN PEOPLE AGED 60 AND OVER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: ONE-THIRD OF COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS FALL ANNUALLY. EXERCISE THAT CHALLENGES BALANCE IS PROVEN TO PREVENT FALLS. WE CONDUCTED A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF YOGA-BASED EXERCISE ON BALANCE AND PHYSICAL MOBILITY IN PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS. METHODS: SEARCHES FOR RELEVANT TRIALS WERE CONDUCTED ON THE FOLLOWING ELECTRONIC DATABASES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, CINAHL, ALLIED AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE DATABASE AND THE PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE (PEDRO) FROM INCEPTION TO FEBRUARY 2015. TRIALS WERE INCLUDED IF THEY EVALUATED THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL YOGA (EXCLUDING MEDITATION AND BREATHING EXERCISES ALONE) ON BALANCE IN PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS. WE EXTRACTED DATA ON BALANCE AND THE SECONDARY OUTCOME OF PHYSICAL MOBILITY. STANDARDISED MEAN DIFFERENCES AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE CALCULATED USING RANDOM-EFFECTS MODELS. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF TRIALS WAS ASSESSED USING THE 10-POINT PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE (PEDRO) SCALE. RESULTS: SIX TRIALS OF RELATIVELY HIGH METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY, TOTALLING 307 PARTICIPANTS, WERE IDENTIFIED AND HAD DATA THAT COULD BE INCLUDED IN A META-ANALYSIS. OVERALL, YOGA INTERVENTIONS HAD A SMALL EFFECT ON BALANCE PERFORMANCE (HEDGES' G = 0.40, 95% CI 0.15-0.65, 6 TRIALS) AND A MEDIUM EFFECT ON PHYSICAL MOBILITY (HEDGES' G = 0.50, 95% CI 0.06-0.95, 3 TRIALS). CONCLUSION: YOGA INTERVENTIONS RESULTED IN SMALL IMPROVEMENTS IN BALANCE AND MEDIUM IMPROVEMENTS IN PHYSICAL MOBILITY IN PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS. FURTHER RESEARCH IS REQUIRED TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA-RELATED IMPROVEMENTS IN BALANCE AND MOBILITY TRANSLATE TO PREVENTION OF FALLS IN OLDER PEOPLE. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD42015015872. 2016 16 1109 50 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 17 2607 49 YOGA FOR PRENATAL DEPRESSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: PRENATAL DEPRESSION CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF BOTH MOTHER AND FETUS. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PRENATAL DEPRESSION. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) WAS CONDUCTED BY SEARCHING PUBMED, EMBASE, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY AND PSYCINFO FROM ALL RETRIEVED ARTICLES DESCRIBING SUCH TRIALS UP TO JULY 2014. RESULTS: SIX RCTS WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE SYSTEMATIC SEARCH. THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 375 PREGNANT WOMEN, MOST OF WHOM WERE BETWEEN 20 AND 40 YEARS OF AGE. THE DIAGNOSES OF DEPRESSION WERE DETERMINED BY THEIR SCORES ON STRUCTURED CLINICAL INTERVIEW FOR DSM-IV AND THE CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES DEPRESSION SCALE. WHEN COMPARED WITH COMPARISON GROUPS (E.G., STANDARD PRENATAL CARE, STANDARD ANTENATAL EXERCISES, SOCIAL SUPPORT, ETC.), THE LEVEL OF DEPRESSION STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN YOGA GROUPS (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE [SMD], -0.59; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI], -0.94 TO -0.25; P = 0.0007). ONE SUBGROUP ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT BOTH THE LEVELS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN PRENATALLY DEPRESSED WOMEN (SMD, -0.46; CI, -0.90 TO -0.03; P = 0.04) AND NON-DEPRESSED WOMEN (SMD, -0.87; CI, -1.22 TO -0.52; P < 0.00001) WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN YOGA GROUP THAN THAT IN CONTROL GROUP. THERE WERE TWO KINDS OF YOGA: THE PHYSICAL-EXERCISE-BASED YOGA AND INTEGRATED YOGA, WHICH, BESIDES PHYSICAL EXERCISES, INCLUDED PRANAYAMA, MEDITATION OR DEEP RELAXATION. THEREFORE, THE OTHER SUBGROUP ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED TO ESTIMATE EFFECTS OF THE TWO KINDS OF YOGA ON PRENATAL DEPRESSION. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE LEVEL OF DEPRESSION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN THE INTEGRATED YOGA GROUP (SMD, -0.79; CI, -1.07 TO -0.51; P < 0.00001) BUT NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN PHYSICAL-EXERCISE-BASED YOGA GROUP (SMD, -0.41; CI, -1.01 TO -0.18; P = 0.17). CONCLUSIONS: PRENATAL YOGA INTERVENTION IN PREGNANT WOMEN MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN PARTLY REDUCING DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. 2015 18 355 44 ASSOCIATED FACTORS AND CONSEQUENCES OF RISK OF BIAS IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF YOGA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: BIAS IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY INTERVENTIONS SEEMS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC FACTORS AND TO POTENTIALLY DISTORT THE STUDIES' CONCLUSIONS. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ASSESSED ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF RISK OF BIAS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR THE STUDIES' CONCLUSIONS IN RCTS OF YOGA AS ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY USED COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, INDMED AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SEARCHED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2014 FOR YOGA RCTS. RISK OF SELECTION BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE TOOL AND REGRESSED TO A) PUBLICATION YEAR; B) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN; C) JOURNAL TYPE; AND D) IMPACT FACTOR USING MULTIPLE LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS. LIKEWISE, THE AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS WERE REGRESSED TO RISK OF BIAS. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 312 RCTS WERE INCLUDED. IMPACT FACTOR RANGED FROM 0.0 TO 39.2 (MEDIAN = 1.3); 60 RCT (19.2%) HAD A LOW RISK OF SELECTION BIAS, AND 252 (80.8%) HAD A HIGH OR UNCLEAR RISK OF SELECTION BIAS. ONLY PUBLICATION YEAR AND IMPACT FACTOR SIGNIFICANTLY PREDICTED LOW RISK OF BIAS; RCTS PUBLISHED AFTER 2001 (ADJUSTED ODDS RATIO (OR) = 12.6; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) = 1.7, 94.0; P<0.001) AND THOSE PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS WITH IMPACT FACTOR (ADJUSTED OR = 2.6; 95%CI = 1.4, 4.9; P = 0.004) WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE LOW RISK OF BIAS. THE AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS WERE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH RISK OF BIAS. CONCLUSIONS: RISK OF SELECTION BIAS WAS GENERALLY HIGH IN RCTS OF YOGA; ALTHOUGH THE SITUATION HAS IMPROVED SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF THE REVISED CONSORT STATEMENT 2001. PRE-CONSORT RCTS AND THOSE PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS WITHOUT IMPACT FACTOR SHOULD BE HANDLED WITH INCREASED CARE; ALTHOUGH RISK OF BIAS IS UNLIKELY TO DISTORT THE RCTS' CONCLUSIONS. 2015 19 2330 36 TWELVE WEEKS OF YOGA FOR CHRONIC NONSPECIFIC LOWER BACK PAIN: A META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVES: TO INVESTIGATE THE OVERALL EFFECTS OF 12 WEEKS OF YOGA PRACTICE ON CHRONIC NONSPECIFIC LOWER BACK PAIN. METHODS: PUBMED, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, WEB OF SCIENCE, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FROM INCEPTION TO FEBRUARY 9, 2019, AND SIX RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE SELECTED FOR THIS META-ANALYSIS. RESULTS: THE POOLED FIXED-EFFECT SIZE OF SIX TRIALS SHOWED THAT 12 WEEKS OF YOGA PROGRAMS COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE CHRONIC NONSPECIFIC LOWER BACK PAIN BY 0.41 WITHIN THE TRIALS (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL: -0.58 TO -0.23; P < .0001). SUBGROUP ANALYSES ALSO SHOWED THAT SIGNIFICANT PAIN REDUCTION WAS RELATED TO TYPE OF YOGA, LENGTH OF SESSION, STUDY QUALITY, AND TIMING OF PAIN ASSESSMENT. CONCLUSIONS: THESE FINDINGS REVEAL THAT 12 WEEKS OF YOGA CAN HELP ALLEVIATE PAIN, AND YOGA PROGRAMS SHOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE SUBGROUP FACTORS TO INCREASE INDIVIDUALS' RELIEF FROM CHRONIC NONSPECIFIC LOWER BACK PAIN. 2020 20 1055 41 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