1 2198 148 THE EFFICACY OF BODY-ORIENTED YOGA IN MENTAL DISORDERS-A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS BACKGROUND: THE EFFICACY OF BODY-ORIENTED YOGA IN THE TREATMENT OF MENTAL DISORDERS HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED IN NUMEROUS STUDIES. THIS ARTICLE IS A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF THE RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS. METHODS: ALL STUDIES IN WHICH THE EFFICACY OF HATHA-YOGA, I.E., BODY-ORIENTED YOGA WITH ASANAS AND PRANAYAMA, WAS STUDIED IN ADULT PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM A MENTAL DISORDER (AS DIAGNOSED BY ICD OR DSM CRITERIA) WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS. THE PRIMARY ENDPOINT WAS DISORDER-SPECIFIC SYMPTOM SEVERITY. THE PUBLICATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED BY A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH IN THE PUBMED, WEB OF SCIENCE, PSYCINFO AND PROQUEST DATABASES, SUPPLEMENTED BY A SEARCH WITH THE GOOGLE SCHOLAR SEARCH ENGINE AND A MANUAL SEARCH IN THE REFERENCE LISTS OF META-ANALYSES AND PRIMARY STUDIES, AS WELL AS IN SPECIALIZED JOURNALS. RESULTS: 25 STUDIES WITH A TOTAL OF 1339 PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS. A LARGE AND SIGNIFICANT EFFECT OF YOGA WAS SEEN WITH RESPECT TO THE PRIMARY ENDPOINT (SYMPTOM SEVERITY) (HEDGES' G = 0.91; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [0.55; 1.28]; NUMBER NEEDED TO TREAT [NNT]: 2.03), WITH SUBSTANTIAL HETEROGENEITY (I2 = 69.8%) COMPARED TO UNTREATED CONTROL GROUPS. SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS OF YOGA WERE ALSO SEEN IN COMPARISON WITH ATTENTION CONTROL (G = 0.39; [0.04; 0.73]; NNT: 4.55) AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE (G = 0.30; [0.01; 0.59]; NNT: 5.75); NO DIFFERENCE IN EFFICACY WAS FOUND BETWEEN YOGA AND STANDARD PSYCHOTHERAPY (G = 0.08; [-0.24; 0,40]; NNT: 21.89). IN VIEW OF THE RELATIVELY HIGH RISK OF BIAS, THESE FINDINGS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION. CONCLUSION: BODY-ORIENTED YOGA WITH ASANAS AND PRANAYAMA AS CENTRAL COMPONENTS IS A PROMISING COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT FOR MENTAL DISORDERS AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED IN FURTHER HIGH-QUALITY STUDIES. 2016 2 1057 41 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 3 1202 42 EXERCISE, YOGA, AND TAI CHI FOR TREATMENT OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER IN OUTPATIENT SETTINGS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: EXERCISE, YOGA, AND TAI CHI ARE COMMONLY USED COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS. THIS REVIEW AIMS TO SYNTHESIZE THE EVIDENCE FOR EXERCISE, YOGA, AND TAI CHI IN THE OUTPATIENT TREATMENT OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. STUDY SELECTION: A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH OF THE OVID MEDLINE, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, AND COCHRANE DATABASES WAS CONDUCTED FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF EXERCISE, YOGA, AND TAI CHI FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. DATA EXTRACTION: STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES WERE CALCULATED AND META-ANALYZED USING A RANDOM EFFECTS MULTILEVEL MODELING FRAMEWORK. HETEROGENEITY AND SUBGROUP ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED. RESULTS: TWENTY-FIVE STUDIES WERE INCLUDED FOR FINAL ANALYSIS (EXERCISE: 15, YOGA: 7, TAI CHI: 3). OVERALL, META-ANALYSIS SHOWED A MODERATE SIGNIFICANT CLINICAL EFFECT. HOWEVER, WHEN ONLY STUDIES (6 STUDIES) WITH THE LOWEST RISK OF BIAS WERE INCLUDED, THE OVERALL EFFECT SIZE WAS REDUCED TO LOW TO MODERATE EFFICACY. OVERALL QUALITY OF EVIDENCE WAS LOW. HETEROGENEITY AND PUBLICATION BIAS WERE HIGH. CONCLUSIONS: THE CURRENT META-ANALYSIS OF OUTPATIENT EXERCISE, YOGA, AND TAI CHI FOR TREATMENT OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER SUGGESTS THAT ADJUNCTIVE EXERCISE AND YOGA MAY HAVE SMALL ADDITIVE CLINICAL EFFECTS IN COMPARISON TO CONTROL FOR REDUCING DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. THE EVIDENCE FOR TAI CHI IS INSUFFICIENT TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS. THE CONCERNS WITH QUALITY OF STUDIES, HIGH HETEROGENEITY, AND EVIDENCE OF PUBLICATION BIAS PRECLUDE MAKING FIRM CONCLUSIONS. 2020 4 698 43 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 5 2540 50 YOGA FOR ANXIETY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. YOGA HAS BECOME A POPULAR APPROACH TO IMPROVE EMOTIONAL HEALTH. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND SAFETY OF YOGA FOR ANXIETY. MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, PSYCINFO, AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED THROUGH OCTOBER 2016 FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS OR ELEVATED LEVELS OF ANXIETY. THE PRIMARY OUTCOMES WERE ANXIETY AND REMISSION RATES, AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES WERE DEPRESSION, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND SAFETY. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE TOOL. EIGHT RCTS WITH 319 PARTICIPANTS (MEAN AGE: 30.0-38.5 YEARS) WERE INCLUDED. RISK OF SELECTION BIAS WAS UNCLEAR FOR MOST RCTS. META-ANALYSES REVEALED EVIDENCE FOR SMALL SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA ON ANXIETY COMPARED TO NO TREATMENT (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE [SMD] = -0.43; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = -0.74, -0.11; P = .008), AND LARGE EFFECTS COMPARED TO ACTIVE COMPARATORS (SMD = -0.86; 95% CI = -1.56, -0.15; P = .02). SMALL EFFECTS ON DEPRESSION WERE FOUND COMPARED TO NO TREATMENT (SMD = -0.35; 95% CI = -0.66, -0.04; P = .03). EFFECTS WERE ROBUST AGAINST POTENTIAL METHODOLOGICAL BIAS. NO EFFECTS WERE FOUND FOR PATIENTS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS DIAGNOSED BY DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL CRITERIA, ONLY FOR PATIENTS DIAGNOSED BY OTHER METHODS, AND FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ELEVATED LEVELS OF ANXIETY WITHOUT A FORMAL DIAGNOSIS. ONLY THREE RCTS REPORTED SAFETY-RELATED DATA BUT THESE INDICATED THAT YOGA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED INJURIES. IN CONCLUSION, YOGA MIGHT BE AN EFFECTIVE AND SAFE INTERVENTION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ELEVATED LEVELS OF ANXIETY. THERE WAS INCONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS OF YOGA IN ANXIETY DISORDERS. MORE HIGH-QUALITY STUDIES ARE NEEDED AND ARE WARRANTED GIVEN THESE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND PLAUSIBLE MECHANISMS OF ACTION. 2018 6 1064 34 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 7 590 50 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 8 1055 34 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 9 1299 53 HATHA YOGA FOR ACUTE, CHRONIC AND/OR TREATMENT-RESISTANT MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HATHA YOGA IN TREATING ACUTE, CHRONIC AND/OR TREATMENT-RESISTANT MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS. METHODS: MEDLINE, COCHRANE LIBRARY, CURRENT CONTROLLED TRIALS, CLINICAL TRIALS.GOV, NHR CENTRE FOR REVIEWS AND DISSEMINATION, PSYCINFO AND CINAHL WERE SEARCHED THROUGH JUNE 2018. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH PATIENTS WITH MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS WERE INCLUDED. MAIN OUTCOMES WERE CONTINUOUS MEASURES OF SEVERITY OF MOOD AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS. COHEN'S D WAS CALCULATED AS A MEASURE OF EFFECT SIZE. META-ANALYSES USING A RANDOM EFFECTS MODEL WAS APPLIED TO ESTIMATE DIRECT COMPARISONS BETWEEN YOGA AND CONTROL CONDITIONS FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY OUTCOMES. PUBLICATION BIAS WAS VISUALLY INSPECTED USING FUNNEL PLOTS. RESULTS: EIGHTEEN STUDIES WERE FOUND, FOURTEEN IN ACUTE PATIENTS AND FOUR IN CHRONIC PATIENTS. MOST STUDIES WERE OF LOW QUALITY. FOR DEPRESSION OUTCOMES, HATHA YOGA DID NOT SHOW A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WHEN COMPARED TO TREATMENT AS USUAL, AN OVERALL EFFECT SIZE OF COHEN'S D -0.64 (95% CI = -1.41, 0.13) OR TO ALL ACTIVE CONTROL GROUPS, COHEN'S D -0.13 (95% CI = -0.49, 0.22). A SUB-ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT YOGA HAD A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE REDUCTION OF DEPRESSION COMPARED TO PSYCHOEDUCATION CONTROL GROUPS, COHEN'S D -0.52 (95% CI = -0.96, -0.08) BUT NOT TO OTHER ACTIVE CONTROL GROUPS, COHEN'S D 0.28 (95% CI = -0.07, 0.63) FOR STUDIES USING A FOLLOW-UP OF SIX MONTHS OR MORE, HATHA YOGA HAD NO EFFECT ON THE REDUCTION OF DEPRESSION COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROL GROUPS, COHEN'S D -0.14 (95% CI = -0.60, 0.33). REGARDING ANXIETY, HATHA YOGA HAD NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WHEN COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROL GROUPS, COHEN'S D -0.09 (95% CI = -0.47, 0.30). THE I2 AND Q-STATISTIC REVEALED HETEROGENEITY AMONGST COMPARISONS. QUALITATIVE ANALYSES SUGGEST SOME PROMISE OF HATHA YOGA FOR CHRONIC POPULATIONS. CONCLUSIONS: THE ABILITY TO DRAW FIRM CONCLUSIONS IS LIMITED BY THE NOTABLE HETEROGENEITY AND LOW QUALITY OF MOST OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES. WITH THIS CAVEAT IN MIND, THE RESULTS OF THE CURRENT META-ANALYSIS SUGGEST THAT HATHA YOGA DOES NOT HAVE EFFECTS ON ACUTE, CHRONIC AND/OR TREATMENT-RESISTANT MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS COMPARED TO TREATMENT AS USUAL OR ACTIVE CONTROL GROUPS. HOWEVER, WHEN COMPARED TO PSYCHOEDUCATION, HATHA YOGA SHOWED MORE REDUCTIONS IN DEPRESSION. IT IS CLEAR THAT MORE HIGH-QUALITY STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO ADVANCE THE FIELD. 2018 10 1031 41 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 11 2569 47 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 12 2144 45 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 13 2573 42 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 14 2742 47 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 15 1043 35 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 2079 42 THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE, YOGA AND PHYSIOTHERAPY ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. INTRODUCTION: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) IS A CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AFFECTING THE MYELINATED AXONS OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CAUSING NEUROLOGICAL DETERIORATION. PEOPLE LIVING WITH MS HAVE A POOR QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) BECAUSE OF THE SYMPTOMS CAUSED BY THE DISEASE AND THERE ARE VARIOUS TYPES OF TREATMENTS TO MANAGE THE SYMPTOMS ASIDE FROM MEDICATION. OBJECTIVE: THIS META-ANALYSIS EXAMINES THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE, YOGA AND PHYSIOTHERAPY ON THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SOCIAL QOL AMONG INDIVIDUALS LIVING WITH MS. SETTING: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED USING PUBMED, MEDLINE, AND SCOPUS FROM 1990 TO 2017. THE STANDARD MEAN DIFFERENCE SCORES WERE COMPUTED IN EACH STUDY FOR THE DOMAINS OF PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING. RESULTS: EIGHTEEN STUDIES MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR THIS META-ANALYSIS. AEROBIC EXERCISE WAS EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING SATISFACTION WITH PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING,D = 0.35 (95% CI = 0.08 TO 0.62), MENTAL FUNCTIONING D = 0.42 (95% CI = 0.11 TO 0.72), AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING D = 0.42 (95% CI = 0.15 TO 0.69). PHYSIOTHERAPY WAS ALSO FOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING D = 0.50 (95% CI 0.19 TO 0.80), MENTAL FUNCTIONING D = 0.44 (95% CI 0.14 TO 0.75) AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING D = 0.60 (95% CI 0.21 TO 0.90). HOWEVER YOGA AND COMBINATION OF EXERCISES DID NOT HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON ANY OF THE QOL DOMAINS. CONCLUSION: THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT AEROBIC EXERCISE AND PHYSIOTHERAPY IMPROVES THE SATISFACTION OF MS PATIENTS WITH THEIR PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING AND MAY BE INCLUDED AS NORMAL PRACTICE IN THE TREATMENT OF MS. 2019 17 2397 38 YOGA AND COGNITION: A META-ANALYSIS OF CHRONIC AND ACUTE EFFECTS. OBJECTIVES: TO REVIEW AND SYNTHESIZE THE EXISTING LITERATURE ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION BY DETERMINING EFFECT SIZES THAT COULD SERVE AS A PLATFORM TO DESIGN, CALCULATE STATISTICAL POWER, AND IMPLEMENT FUTURE STUDIES. METHODS: THROUGH ELECTRONIC DATABASES, WE IDENTIFIED ACUTE STUDIES AND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA THAT REPORTED COGNITIVE OUTCOMES. INCLUSION CRITERIA INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING: USE OF AN OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF COGNITION AND SUFFICIENT DATA REPORTED TO ESTIMATE AN EFFECT SIZE. THE META-ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED USING COMPREHENSIVE META-ANALYSIS SOFTWARE. A RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL WAS USED TO CALCULATE THE OVERALL WEIGHTED EFFECT SIZES, EXPRESSED AS HEDGE G. RESULTS: FIFTEEN RCTS AND 7 ACUTE EXPOSURE STUDIES EXAMINED THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON COGNITION. A MODERATE EFFECT (G = 0.33, STANDARD ERROR = 0.08, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL = 0.18-0.48, P < .001) OF YOGA ON COGNITION WAS OBSERVED FOR RCTS, WITH THE STRONGEST EFFECT FOR ATTENTION AND PROCESSING SPEED (G = 0.29, P < .001), FOLLOWED BY EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (G = 0.27, P = .001) AND MEMORY (G = 0.18, P = .051). ACUTE STUDIES SHOWED A STRONGER OVERALL EFFECT OF YOGA ON COGNITION (G = 0.56, STANDARD ERROR = 0.11, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL = 0.33-0.78, P < .001). THE EFFECT WAS STRONGEST FOR MEMORY (G = 0.78, P < .001), FOLLOWED BY ATTENTION AND PROCESSING SPEED MEASURES (G = 0.49, P < .001) AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS (G = 0.39, P < .003). CONCLUSIONS: YOGA PRACTICE SEEMS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH MODERATE IMPROVEMENTS IN COGNITIVE FUNCTION. ALTHOUGH THE STUDIES ARE LIMITED BY SAMPLE SIZE, HETEROGENEOUS POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS, VARIED DOSES OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS, AND A MYRIAD OF COGNITIVE TESTS, THESE FINDINGS WARRANT RIGOROUS SYSTEMATIC RCTS AND WELL-DESIGNED COUNTERBALANCED ACUTE STUDIES TO COMPREHENSIVELY EXPLORE YOGA AS A MEANS TO IMPROVE OR SUSTAIN COGNITIVE ABILITIES ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN. 2015 18 1856 37 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 19 2165 50 THE EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED TO ACTIVE AND INACTIVE CONTROLS ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLDER ADULTS- SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: YOGA HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED AS A MUSCLE STRENGTHENING AND BALANCE ACTIVITY IN NATIONAL AND GLOBAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES. HOWEVER, THE EVIDENCE BASE ESTABLISHING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA IN IMPROVING PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQOL) IN AN OLDER ADULT POPULATION NOT RECRUITED ON THE BASIS OF ANY SPECIFIC DISEASE OR CONDITION, HAS NOT BEEN SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEWED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO SYNTHESISE EXISTING EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND HRQOL IN OLDER ADULTS NOT CHARACTERISED BY ANY SPECIFIC CLINICAL CONDITION. METHODS: THE FOLLOWING DATABASES WERE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED IN SEPTEMBER 2017: MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, CINAHL PLUS, SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE, COCHRANE LIBRARY, EMBASE, SPORTDISCUS, AMED AND PROQUEST DISSERTATIONS & THESES GLOBAL. STUDY INCLUSION CRITERIA: OLDER ADULT PARTICIPANTS WITH MEAN AGE OF 60 YEARS AND ABOVE, NOT RECRUITED ON THE BASIS OF ANY SPECIFIC DISEASE OR CONDITION; YOGA INTERVENTION COMPARED WITH INACTIVE CONTROLS (EXAMPLE: WAIT-LIST CONTROL, EDUCATION BOOKLETS) OR ACTIVE CONTROLS (EXAMPLE: WALKING, CHAIR AEROBICS); PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND HRQOL OUTCOMES; AND RANDOMISED/CLUSTER RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH. A VOTE COUNTING ANALYSIS AND META-ANALYSIS WITH STANDARDISED EFFECT SIZES (HEDGES' G) COMPUTED USING RANDOM EFFECTS MODELS WERE CONDUCTED. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 27 RECORDS FROM 22 RCTS WERE INCLUDED (17 RCTS ASSESSED PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND 20 ASSESSED HRQOL). THE META-ANALYSIS REVEALED SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS (5% LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE) FAVOURING THE YOGA GROUP FOR THE FOLLOWING PHYSICAL FUNCTION OUTCOMES COMPARED WITH INACTIVE CONTROLS: BALANCE (EFFECT SIZE (ES) = 0.7), LOWER BODY FLEXIBILITY (ES = 0.5), LOWER LIMB STRENGTH (ES = 0.45); COMPARED WITH ACTIVE CONTROLS: LOWER LIMB STRENGTH (ES = 0.49), LOWER BODY FLEXIBILITY (ES = 0.28). FOR HRQOL, SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS FAVOURING YOGA WERE FOUND COMPARED TO INACTIVE CONTROLS FOR: DEPRESSION (ES = 0.64), PERCEIVED MENTAL HEALTH (ES = 0.6), PERCEIVED PHYSICAL HEALTH (ES = 0.61), SLEEP QUALITY (ES = 0.65), AND VITALITY (ES = 0.31); COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROLS: DEPRESSION (ES = 0.54). CONCLUSION: THIS REVIEW IS THE FIRST TO COMPARE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA WITH ACTIVE AND INACTIVE CONTROLS IN OLDER ADULTS NOT CHARACTERISED BY A SPECIFIC CLINICAL CONDITION. RESULTS INDICATE THAT YOGA INTERVENTIONS IMPROVE MULTIPLE PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND HRQOL OUTCOMES IN THIS POPULATION COMPARED TO BOTH CONTROL CONDITIONS. THIS STUDY PROVIDES ROBUST EVIDENCE FOR PROMOTING YOGA IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY GUIDELINES FOR OLDER ADULTS AS A MULTIMODAL ACTIVITY THAT IMPROVES ASPECTS OF FITNESS LIKE STRENGTH, BALANCE AND FLEXIBILITY, AS WELL AS MENTAL WELLBEING. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016038052 . 2019 20 1829 34 PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF YOGA NIDRA IN WOMEN WITH MENSTRUAL DISORDERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA NIDRA ON PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN WOMEN WITH MENSTRUAL DISORDERS. METHODS: A SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED USING CINAHL, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, AND PUBMED ELECTRONIC DATABASES, AND USING THE PREFERRED REPORTING ITEMS FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES (PRISMA), TO IDENTIFY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) PUBLISHED IN ANY LANGUAGE UP TO AND INCLUDING JULY 2016, WHICH REPORTED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF YOGA NIDRA IN WOMEN WITH MENSTRUAL DISORDERS. RESULTS: TWO POTENTIAL TRIALS WERE IDENTIFIED AND BOTH WERE INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW. A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS IN THAT ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WHEN COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: THERE IS EVIDENCE FROM TWO RCTS THAT YOGA NIDRA MAY HAVE FAVORABLE EFFECTS IN TERMS OF REDUCING PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN WOMEN WITH MENSTRUAL DISORDERS. 2017