1 2843 130 YOGA, COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY VERSUS EDUCATION TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE AND REDUCE HEALTHCARE COSTS IN PEOPLE WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS: A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL. INTRODUCTION: ENDOMETRIOSIS IS A DEBILITATING CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY CONDITION HIGHLY BURDENSOME TO THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. THE PRESENT TRIAL WILL ESTABLISH THE EFFICACY OF (1) YOGA AND (2) COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT), ABOVE (3) EDUCATION, ON QUALITY OF LIFE, BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: THIS STUDY IS A PARALLEL RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO YOGA, CBT OR EDUCATION. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ENGLISH-SPEAKING ADULTS, HAVE A DIAGNOSIS OF ENDOMETRIOSIS BY A QUALIFIED PHYSICIAN, WITH PAIN FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS, AND ACCESS TO INTERNET. PARTICIPANTS WILL ATTEND 8 WEEKLY GROUP CBT SESSIONS OF 120 MIN; OR 8 WEEKLY GROUP YOGA SESSIONS OF 60 MIN; OR RECEIVE WEEKLY EDUCATIONAL HANDOUTS ON ENDOMETRIOSIS. THE PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE IS QUALITY OF LIFE. THE ANALYSIS WILL INCLUDE MIXED-EFFECTS ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND LINEAR MODELS, COST-UTILITY ANALYSIS FROM A SOCIETAL AND HEALTH SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE AND QUALITATIVE THEMATIC ANALYSIS. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: ENROLMENT IN THE STUDY IS VOLUNTARY AND PARTICIPANTS CAN WITHDRAW AT ANY TIME. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE GIVEN THE OPTION TO DISCUSS THE STUDY WITH THEIR NEXT OF KIN/TREATING PHYSICIAN. FINDINGS WILL BE DISSEMINATED VIA PUBLICATIONS, CONFERENCES AND BRIEFS TO PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS. THE UNIVERSITY'S MEDIA TEAM WILL ALSO BE USED TO FURTHER DISSEMINATE VIA LAY PERSON ARTICLES AND MEDIA RELEASES. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12620000756921P; PRE-RESULTS. 2021 2 157 30 A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE PRACTICE OF YOGA FOR WOMEN WITH PAIN-ASSOCIATED ENDOMETRIOSIS. OBJECTIVES: TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING WOMEN WITH PAIN-ASSOCIATED ENDOMETRIOSIS ATTRIBUTE TO YOGA PRACTICE REGARDING THEIR PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL STATE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRACTICE; PAIN MANAGEMENT BY INTEGRATING BODY AND MIND; SECONDARY BENEFITS OF THE PRACTICE OF YOGA, SUCH AS SELF-KNOWLEDGE, SELF-CARE, AND AUTONOMY; AND THE ROLE OF THE YOGA GROUP AS PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT. DESIGN: QUALITATIVE STUDY CONDUCTED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL. SETTING: PUBLIC UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL BETWEEN AUGUST 2013 AND DECEMBER 2014. PARTICIPANTS: FIFTEEN WOMEN WITH PAIN-ASSOCIATED ENDOMETRIOSIS WHO PRACTICED YOGA FOR 8 WEEKS. INTERVENTION: AFTER COMPLETING THE TWICE-A-WEEK PROGRAM, ALL WOMEN PARTICIPATED IN A SINGLE, SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW. INTERVIEWS WERE RECORDED AND TRANSCRIBED VERBATIM, AND THEMATIC ANALYSES WERE PERFORMED. OUTCOME MEASURES: THE MAIN THEMES OF ANALYSIS WERE WOMEN'S EXPECTATIONS REGARDING THE PRACTICE OF YOGA, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL STATE OF WOMEN AT THE BEGINNING OF YOGA PRACTICE, CONTROL AND PAIN MANAGEMENT THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF BODY AND MIND, SECONDARY BENEFITS, ACQUISITION OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND AUTONOMY, AND THE ROLE OF YOGA GROUP AS PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT. RESULTS: ALL PARTICIPANTS REPORTED THAT YOGA WAS BENEFICIAL TO CONTROL PELVIC PAIN. THEY RELATED THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THE INTEGRATION OF BODY AND PSYCHE DURING YOGA PRACTICE AND THAT THIS HELPED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PAIN. WOMEN SAID THEY HAD IDENTIFIED A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PAIN MANAGEMENT AND BREATHING TECHNIQUES (PRANAYAMA) LEARNED IN YOGA AND THAT BREATHING INCREASED THEIR ABILITY TO BE INTROSPECTIVE, WHICH RELIEVED PAIN. THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE DEVELOPED GREATER SELF-KNOWLEDGE, AUTONOMY, AND SELF-CARE AND HAVE REDUCED THE USE OF PAIN AND PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS. THEY CREATED TIES AMONG THEMSELVES, SUGGESTING THAT THE YOGA GROUP ALLOWED PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT. CONCLUSIONS: BODILY AND PSYCHOSOCIAL MECHANISMS TO CONTROL PAIN WERE IDENTIFIED IN WOMEN WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS. TO REACH SUCH CONTROL, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT MIND AND BODY INTEGRATIVE TECHNIQUES ARE LEARNED. 2016 3 2260 31 THE PRACTICE OF HATHA YOGA FOR THE TREATMENT OF PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS. OBJECTIVES: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO COMPARE CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN, MENSTRUAL PATTERNS, AND QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) IN TWO GROUPS OF WOMEN WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS: THOSE WHO DID AND THOSE WHO DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN A SPECIFIC 8-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION. METHOD: THIS WAS A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. IT WAS CONDUCTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMPINAS MEDICAL SCHOOL, CAMPINAS, SP, BRAZIL. FORTY WOMEN WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: AN INTERVENTION GROUP OF WOMEN WHO PRACTICED YOGA (N = 28), AND A CONTROL GROUP OF WOMEN WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA (N = 12). PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED 90-MIN SCHEDULED YOGA SESSIONS TWICE A WEEK FOR 8 WEEKS. ADDITIONALLY, AN ENDOMETRIOSIS HEALTH PROFILE (EHP)-30 QUESTIONNAIRE WAS APPLIED TO EVALUATE WOMEN'S QOL AT ADMISSION AND 2 MONTHS LATER UPON COMPLETION OF THE YOGA PROGRAM. MENSTRUAL AND DAILY PAIN PATTERNS WERE EVALUATED THROUGH A DAILY CALENDAR (VISUAL ANALOG SCALE). RESULTS: THE DEGREE OF DAILY PAIN WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER AMONG THE WOMEN WHO PRACTICED YOGA COMPARED WITH THE NON-YOGA GROUP (P = 0.0007). THERE WAS AN IMPROVEMENT OF QOL IN BOTH GROUPS BETWEEN BASELINE AND THE END OF THE STUDY EVALUATION. IN RELATION TO EHP-30 DOMAINS, PAIN (P = 0.0046), IMPOTENCE (P = 0.0006), WELL-BEING (P = 0.0009), AND IMAGE (P = 0.0087) FROM THE CENTRAL QUESTIONNAIRE, AND WORK (P = 0.0027) AND TREATMENT (P = 0.0245) FROM THE MODULAR QUESTIONNAIRE WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE STUDY GROUPS OVER TIME. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS REGARDING THE DIARY OF MENSTRUAL PATTERNS (P = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: YOGA PRACTICE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A REDUCTION IN LEVELS OF CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN AND AN IMPROVEMENT IN QOL IN WOMEN WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS. 2017 4 2464 27 YOGA AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DYSFUNCTIONAL UTERINE BLEEDING: A CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: DYSFUNCTIONAL UTERINE BLEEDING (DUB) IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON GYNECOLOGICAL DISORDERS ENCOUNTERED IN WOMEN DURING THE REPRODUCTIVE AGE. YOGA THERAPY HAS SHOWN PROMISING BENEFITS IN SEVERAL GYNECOLOGICAL DISORDERS. METHODS: THIRTY WOMEN BETWEEN THE AGES OF 20 AND 40 YEARS WITH PRIMARY DUB WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO A YOGA (N = 15) AND A WAITLIST CONTROL GROUP (N = 15). PARTICIPANTS IN THE YOGA GROUP RECEIVED A 3-MONTH YOGA MODULE AND WERE ASSESSED FOR HEMOGLOBIN VALUES, ENDOMETRIAL THICKNESS (ET), PICTORIAL BLOOD LOSS ASSESSMENT CHART (PBAC), STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY, PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE, AND PITTSBURGH SLEEP QUALITY INDEX (PSQI) BEFORE AND AFTER A 3-MONTH FOLLOW-UP PERIOD. RESULTS: AT THE END OF 3 MONTHS OF INTERVENTION, THE YOGA GROUP, UNLIKE THE CONTROL GROUP, REPORTED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE ANXIETY SCORES (P < 0.05) AND PERCEIVED STRESS (P < 0.05). THE PSQI SCORES INDICATED A REDUCTION IN SLEEP DISTURBANCES (P < 0.001) AND THE NEED FOR SLEEP MEDICATIONS (P < 0.01) AND HIGHER GLOBAL SCORES (P < 0.001). HOWEVER, THERE WERE NO CHANGES IN PBAC AND ET IN BOTH THE GROUPS. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT YOGA THERAPY POSITIVELY IMPACTS THE OUTCOME OF DUB BY REDUCING THE PERCEIVED STRESS AND STATE ANXIETY AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF SLEEP. THIS WARRANTS LARGER CLINICAL TRIALS TO VALIDATE THE FINDINGS OF THIS PILOT STUDY. 2018 5 258 44 ACCEPTABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF A 12-WEEK YOGA VS. EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME (RLS): STUDY PROTOCOL FOR A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME (RLS) IS A COMMON AND BURDENSOME SLEEP DISORDER ASSOCIATED WITH PROFOUND IMPAIRMENT OF HEALTH, WELL-BEING, AND QUALITY OF LIFE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE MEDICATIONS USED FOR RLS MANAGEMENT CARRY RISK OF SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, INCLUDING AUGMENTATION OF SYMPTOMS. YOGA, AN ANCIENT MIND-BODY DISCIPLINE DESIGNED TO PROMOTE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, AND MENTAL WELL-BEING, MAY OFFER A VIABLE, LOW-RISK NEW TREATMENT. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THIS PILOT, PARALLEL-ARM, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT) ARE TO ASSESS THE ACCEPTABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF A 12-WEEK YOGA VS. EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RLS. METHODS: FORTY-FOUR ADULTS WITH CONFIRMED MODERATE TO SEVERE RLS WILL BE RECRUITED AND RANDOMIZED TO A 12-WEEK YOGA (N = 22) OR STANDARDIZED EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAM (N = 22). YOGA GROUP PARTICIPANTS WILL ATTEND TWO 75-MIN IYENGAR YOGA CLASSES PER WEEK FOR THE FIRST 4 WEEKS, THEN ONE 75-MIN CLASS PER WEEK FOR THE REMAINING 8 WEEKS, AND WILL COMPLETE A 30-MIN HOMEWORK ROUTINE ON NON-CLASS DAYS. EDUCATIONAL FILM GROUP PARTICIPANTS WILL ATTEND ONE 75-MIN CLASS PER WEEK FOR 12 WEEKS AND COMPLETE A DAILY RLS TREATMENT LOG; CLASSES WILL INCLUDE INFORMATION ON: RLS MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING SLEEP HYGIENE PRACTICES; OTHER SLEEP DISORDERS; AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES LIKELY TO BE OF INTEREST TO THOSE PARTICIPATING IN A YOGA AND SLEEP EDUCATION STUDY. YOGA AND TREATMENT LOGS WILL BE COLLECTED WEEKLY. FEASIBILITY OUTCOMES WILL INCLUDE RECRUITMENT, ENROLLMENT, AND RANDOMIZATION RATES, RETENTION, ADHERENCE, AND PROGRAM SATISFACTION. PROGRAM EVALUATION AND YOGA-DOSING QUESTIONNAIRES WILL BE COLLECTED AT WEEK 12; DATA ON EXPLORATORY OUTCOMES (E.G., RLS SYMPTOM SEVERITY (IRLS), SLEEP QUALITY (PSQI), MOOD (POMS, PSS), AND HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (SF-36)) WILL BE GATHERED AT BASELINE AND WEEK 12. DISCUSSION: THIS STUDY WILL LAY THE ESSENTIAL GROUNDWORK FOR A PLANNED LARGER RCT TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF A YOGA PROGRAM FOR REDUCING SYMPTOMS AND ASSOCIATED BURDEN OF RLS. IF THE FINDINGS OF THE CURRENT TRIAL AND THE SUBSEQUENT LARGER RCTS ARE POSITIVE, THIS STUDY WILL ALSO HELP SUPPORT A NEW APPROACH TO CLINICAL TREATMENT OF THIS CHALLENGING DISORDER, HELP FOSTER IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF RLS ETIOLOGY, AND ULTIMATELY CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCING THE INDIVIDUAL, SOCIETAL, AND ECONOMIC BURDEN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CONDITION. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV, ID: NCT03570515 . RETROSPECTIVELY REGISTERED ON 1 FEBRUARY 2017. 2019 6 74 30 A GROUP-BASED YOGA THERAPY INTERVENTION FOR URINARY INCONTINENCE IN WOMEN: A PILOT RANDOMIZED TRIAL. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY IS TO EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY, EFFICACY, AND SAFETY OF A GROUP-BASED YOGA THERAPY INTERVENTION FOR MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER WOMEN WITH URINARY INCONTINENCE. METHODS: WE CONDUCTED A PILOT RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF AMBULATORY WOMEN AGED 40 YEARS AND OLDER WITH STRESS, URGENCY, OR MIXED-TYPE INCONTINENCE. WOMEN WERE RANDOMIZED TO A 6-WEEK YOGA THERAPY PROGRAM (N = 10) CONSISTING OF TWICE WEEKLY GROUP CLASSES AND ONCE WEEKLY HOME PRACTICE OR A WAIT-LIST CONTROL GROUP (N = 9). ALL PARTICIPANTS ALSO RECEIVED WRITTEN PAMPHLETS ABOUT STANDARD BEHAVIORAL SELF-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR INCONTINENCE. CHANGES IN INCONTINENCE WERE ASSESSED WITH 7-DAY VOIDING DIARIES. RESULTS: THE MEAN (SD) AGE WAS 61.4 (8.2) YEARS, AND THE MEAN BASELINE FREQUENCY OF INCONTINENCE WAS 2.5 (1.3) EPISODES/D. AFTER 6 WEEKS, THE TOTAL INCONTINENCE FREQUENCY DECREASED BY 70% (1.8 [0.9] FEWER EPISODES/D) IN THE YOGA THERAPY VERSUS 13% (0.3 [1.7] FEWER EPISODES/D) IN THE CONTROL GROUP (P = 0.049). PARTICIPANTS IN THE YOGA THERAPY GROUP ALSO REPORTED AN AVERAGE OF 71% DECREASE IN STRESS INCONTINENCE FREQUENCY (0.7 [0.8] FEWER EPISODES/D) COMPARED WITH A 25% INCREASE IN CONTROLS (0.2 [1.1] MORE EPISODES/D) (P = 0.039). NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN REDUCTION IN URGENCY INCONTINENCE WERE DETECTED BETWEEN THE YOGA THERAPY VERSUS CONTROL GROUPS (1.0 [1.0] VERSUS 0.5 [0.5] FEWER EPISODES/D; P = 0.20). ALL WOMEN STARTING THE YOGA THERAPY PROGRAM COMPLETED AT LEAST 90% OF THE GROUP CLASSES AND PRACTICE SESSIONS. TWO PARTICIPANTS IN EACH GROUP REPORTED ADVERSE EVENTS UNRELATED TO THE INTERVENTION. CONCLUSIONS: FINDINGS PROVIDE PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE FEASIBILITY, EFFICACY, AND SAFETY OF A GROUP-BASED YOGA THERAPY INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE URINARY INCONTINENCE IN WOMEN. 2014 7 2604 36 YOGA FOR PERSISTENT FATIGUE IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE AFFLICTS UP TO 33% OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS, YET THERE ARE NO EMPIRICALLY VALIDATED TREATMENTS FOR THIS SYMPTOM. METHODS: THE AUTHORS CONDUCTED A 2-GROUP RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY AND EFFICACY OF AN IYENGAR YOGA INTERVENTION FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WITH PERSISTENT POST-TREATMENT FATIGUE. PARTICIPANTS WERE BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WHO HAD COMPLETED CANCER TREATMENTS (OTHER THAN ENDOCRINE THERAPY) AT LEAST 6 MONTHS BEFORE ENROLLMENT, REPORTED SIGNIFICANT CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE, AND HAD NO OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD ACCOUNT FOR FATIGUE SYMPTOMS OR INTERFERE WITH YOGA PRACTICE. BLOCK RANDOMIZATION WAS USED TO ASSIGN PARTICIPANTS TO A 12-WEEK, IYENGAR-BASED YOGA INTERVENTION OR TO 12 WEEKS OF HEALTH EDUCATION (CONTROL). THE PRIMARY OUTCOME WAS CHANGE IN FATIGUE MEASURED AT BASELINE, IMMEDIATELY POST-TREATMENT, AND 3 MONTHS AFTER TREATMENT COMPLETION. ADDITIONAL OUTCOMES INCLUDED CHANGES IN VIGOR, DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, SLEEP, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE. INTENT-TO-TREAT ANALYSES WERE CONDUCTED WITH ALL RANDOMIZED PARTICIPANTS USING LINEAR MIXED MODELS. RESULTS: THIRTY-ONE WOMEN WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO YOGA (N = 16) OR HEALTH EDUCATION (N = 15). FATIGUE SEVERITY DECLINED SIGNIFICANTLY FROM BASELINE TO POST-TREATMENT AND OVER A 3-MONTH FOLLOW-UP IN THE YOGA GROUP RELATIVE TO CONTROLS (P = .032). IN ADDITION, THE YOGA GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN VIGOR RELATIVE TO CONTROLS (P = .011). BOTH GROUPS HAD POSITIVE CHANGES IN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND PERCEIVED STRESS (P < .05). NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN SLEEP OR PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE WERE OBSERVED. CONCLUSIONS: A TARGETED YOGA INTERVENTION LED TO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN FATIGUE AND VIGOR AMONG BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WITH PERSISTENT FATIGUE SYMPTOMS. 2012 8 312 33 AN EXPLORATORY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF A 12-WEEK YOGA VERSUS EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME: FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY. OBJECTIVES: THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THIS PILOT TRIAL WERE TO ASSESS THE STUDY FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF THE 12-WEEK YOGA AND EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAMS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME (RLS) IN PREPARATION FOR A FUTURE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS PILOT, PARALLEL-ARM, RANDOMIZED FEASIBILITY TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED AT TWO SITES, MORGANTOWN, WV AND COLUMBUS, OH. YOGA GROUP PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED 75-MIN IYENGAR YOGA CLASSES, TWICE WEEKLY FOR 4 WEEKS, THEN ONCE A WEEK FOR 8 WEEKS (16 TOTAL CLASSES), AND COMPLETED A 30-MIN HOMEWORK ROUTINE ON NONCLASS DAYS. EDUCATIONAL FILM GROUP PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED ONCE WEEKLY, 75-MIN CLASSES (12 TOTAL CLASSES), WHICH INCLUDED INFORMATION ON RLS AND OTHER SLEEP DISORDERS, RLS MANAGEMENT INCLUDING SLEEP HYGIENE PRACTICES, AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES. FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OUTCOMES INCLUDED PROGRAM SATISFACTION AND RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, AND ADHERENCE RATES. IN ADDITION, PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED THEIR PREFERENCES REGARDING THREE YOGA CLASS SCHEDULE SCENARIOS FOR A FUTURE STUDY. ATTENDANCE, YOGA, AND TREATMENT LOGS WERE COLLECTED WEEKLY. PROGRAM EVALUATION AND YOGA SCHEDULING QUESTIONNAIRES WERE COLLECTED AT WEEK 12. RESULTS: FORTY-ONE ADULTS WITH MODERATE TO SEVERE RLS WERE RANDOMIZED TO A 12-WEEK YOGA (N = 19) OR EDUCATIONAL FILM (N = 22) PROGRAM. THIRTY PARTICIPANTS (73%) COMPLETED THE PROGRAM. YOGA AND EDUCATION GROUP PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED AN AVERAGE OF 13.0 +/- 0.84 (81%) AND 10.3 +/- 0.3 CLASSES (85%), RESPECTIVELY. PARTICIPANTS FROM BOTH GROUPS INDICATED SATISFACTION WITH THE STUDY. ALL YOGA GROUP RESPONDENTS TO THE PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORTED THEY WOULD LIKELY (N = 6) OR VERY LIKELY (N = 7) CONTINUE YOGA PRACTICE; 86.7% OF EDUCATION GROUP RESPONDENTS (13 OF 15) INDICATED THAT THEY WERE LIKELY (N = 7) OR VERY LIKELY (N = 6) TO MAKE LASTING CHANGES BASED ON WHAT THEY HAD LEARNED. THE PREFERRED SCHEDULE FOR A FUTURE STUDY WAS A 16-WEEK STUDY WITH ONCE-WEEKLY YOGA CLASSES. CONCLUSIONS: THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY SUGGEST THAT A LARGER RCT COMPARING YOGA WITH AN EDUCATIONAL FILM GROUP FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RLS IS FEASIBLE. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT03570515; 02/01/2017. 2022 9 963 27 EFFECTS OF A YOGA PROGRAM ON MENSTRUAL CRAMPS AND MENSTRUAL DISTRESS IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA: A SINGLE-BLIND, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. OBJECTIVES: TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF A YOGA PROGRAM ON MENSTRUAL CRAMPS AND MENSTRUAL DISTRESS IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA. DESIGN: SINGLE-BLIND, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. PARTICIPANTS: 40 RANDOMLY SELECTED UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS, WITH 20 EACH ASSIGNED TO AN EXERCISE OR A CONTROL GROUP. INTERVENTION: THE PARTICIPANTS ENGAGED IN A YOGA PROGRAM FOR 60 MINUTES ONCE A WEEK FOR 12 WEEKS. THE PROGRAM CONSISTED OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE COMBINED WITH RELAXATION AND MEDITATION. OUTCOME MEASURES: MENSTRUAL CRAMPS AND MENSTRUAL DISTRESS LEVELS WERE MEASURED BY USING THE VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALE FOR PAIN AND THE MENSTRUAL DISTRESS QUESTIONNAIRE, RESPECTIVELY. DATA WERE ANALYZED BY USING THE KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV AND SHAPIRO-WILK NORMALITY TESTS, T-TEST, CHI-SQUARE TEST, LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS, AND MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (SPSS PROGRAM). RESULTS: MENSTRUAL PAIN INTENSITY (GROUP DIFFERENCE, -0.94; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI], -1.47 TO -0.42; P = 0.001) AND MENSTRUAL DISTRESS (GROUP DIFFERENCE, -1.13; 95% CI, -1.43 TO -0.82; P < 0.0001) SCORES DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: THESE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT YOGA INTERVENTIONS MAY REDUCE MENSTRUAL CRAMPS AND MENSTRUAL DISTRESS IN FEMALE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA. 2016 10 260 34 ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY AND YOGA FOR DRUG-REFRACTORY EPILEPSY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. OBJECTIVE: THERE IS A NEED FOR CONTROLLED OUTCOME STUDIES ON BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT) AND YOGA IN THE TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY. METHODS: THE DESIGN CONSISTED OF A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH REPEATED MEASURES (N=18). ALL PARTICIPANTS HAD AN EEG-VERIFIED EPILEPSY DIAGNOSIS WITH DRUG-REFRACTORY SEIZURES. PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO ONE OF TWO GROUPS: ACT OR YOGA. THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS WERE MEASURED USING SEIZURE INDEX (FREQUENCY X DURATION) AND QUALITY OF LIFE (SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE, WHOQOL-BREF). THE TREATMENT PROTOCOLS CONSISTED OF 12 HOURS OF PROFESSIONAL THERAPY DISTRIBUTED IN TWO INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS, TWO GROUP SESSIONS DURING A 5-WEEK PERIOD, AND BOOSTER SESSIONS AT 6 AND 12 MONTHS POSTTREATMENT. SEIZURE INDEX WAS CONTINUOUSLY ASSESSED DURING THE 3-MONTH BASELINE AND 12-MONTH FOLLOW-UP. QUALITY OF LIFE WAS MEASURED AFTER TREATMENT AND AT THE 6-MONTH AND 1-YEAR FOLLOW-UPS. RESULTS: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT BOTH ACT AND YOGA SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE SEIZURE INDEX AND INCREASE QUALITY OF LIFE OVER TIME. ACT REDUCED SEIZURE INDEX SIGNIFICANTLY MORE AS COMPARED WITH YOGA. PARTICIPANTS IN BOTH THE ACT AND YOGA GROUPS IMPROVED THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY AS MEASURED BY ONE OF TWO QUALITY-OF-LIFE INSTRUMENTS. THE ACT GROUP INCREASED THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY AS COMPARED WITH THE YOGA GROUP AS MEASURED BY THE WHOQOL-BREF, AND THE YOGA GROUP INCREASED THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY AS COMPARED WITH THE ACT GROUP AS MEASURED BY THE SWLS. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY SUGGEST THAT COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENTS, SUCH AS ACT AND YOGA, DECREASE SEIZURE INDEX AND INCREASE QUALITY OF LIFE. 2008 11 2560 36 YOGA FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A RANDOMIZED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS STUDIES INDICATE THAT YOGA MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC OR RECURRENT LOW BACK PAIN. OBJECTIVE: TO COMPARE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AND USUAL CARE FOR CHRONIC OR RECURRENT LOW BACK PAIN. DESIGN: PARALLEL-GROUP, RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL USING COMPUTER-GENERATED RANDOMIZATION CONDUCTED FROM APRIL 2007 TO MARCH 2010. OUTCOMES WERE ASSESSED BY POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRE. (INTERNATIONAL STANDARD RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL NUMBER REGISTER: ISRCTN 81079604) SETTING: 13 NON-NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE PREMISES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. PATIENTS: 313 ADULTS WITH CHRONIC OR RECURRENT LOW BACK PAIN. INTERVENTION: YOGA (N = 156) OR USUAL CARE (N = 157). ALL PARTICIPANTS RECEIVED A BACK PAIN EDUCATION BOOKLET. THE INTERVENTION GROUP WAS OFFERED A 12-CLASS, GRADUALLY PROGRESSING YOGA PROGRAM DELIVERED BY 12 TEACHERS OVER 3 MONTHS. MEASUREMENTS: SCORES ON THE ROLAND-MORRIS DISABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE (RMDQ) AT 3 (PRIMARY OUTCOME), 6, AND 12 (SECONDARY OUTCOMES) MONTHS; PAIN, PAIN SELF-EFFICACY, AND GENERAL HEALTH MEASURES AT 3, 6, AND 12 MONTHS (SECONDARY OUTCOMES). RESULTS: 93 (60%) PATIENTS OFFERED YOGA ATTENDED AT LEAST 3 OF THE FIRST 6 SESSIONS AND AT LEAST 3 OTHER SESSIONS. THE YOGA GROUP HAD BETTER BACK FUNCTION AT 3, 6, AND 12 MONTHS THAN THE USUAL CARE GROUP. THE ADJUSTED MEAN RMDQ SCORE WAS 2.17 POINTS (95% CI, 1.03 TO 3.31 POINTS) LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUP AT 3 MONTHS, 1.48 POINTS (CI, 0.33 TO 2.62 POINTS) LOWER AT 6 MONTHS, AND 1.57 POINTS (CI, 0.42 TO 2.71 POINTS) LOWER AT 12 MONTHS. THE YOGA AND USUAL CARE GROUPS HAD SIMILAR BACK PAIN AND GENERAL HEALTH SCORES AT 3, 6, AND 12 MONTHS, AND THE YOGA GROUP HAD HIGHER PAIN SELF-EFFICACY SCORES AT 3 AND 6 MONTHS BUT NOT AT 12 MONTHS. TWO OF THE 157 USUAL CARE PARTICIPANTS AND 12 OF THE 156 YOGA PARTICIPANTS REPORTED ADVERSE EVENTS, MOSTLY INCREASED PAIN. LIMITATION: THERE WERE MISSING DATA FOR THE PRIMARY OUTCOME (YOGA GROUP, N = 21; USUAL CARE GROUP, N = 18) AND DIFFERENTIAL MISSING DATA (MORE IN THE YOGA GROUP) FOR SECONDARY OUTCOMES. CONCLUSION: OFFERING A 12-WEEK YOGA PROGRAM TO ADULTS WITH CHRONIC OR RECURRENT LOW BACK PAIN LED TO GREATER IMPROVEMENTS IN BACK FUNCTION THAN DID USUAL CARE. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: ARTHRITIS RESEARCH UK. 2011 12 2851 32 YOGA, PHYSICAL THERAPY, AND BACK PAIN EDUCATION FOR SLEEP QUALITY IN LOW-INCOME RACIALLY DIVERSE ADULTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: POOR SLEEP IS COMMON AMONG ADULTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP), BUT THE INFLUENCE OF CLBP TREATMENTS, SUCH AS YOGA AND PHYSICAL THERAPY (PT), ON SLEEP QUALITY IS UNDER STUDIED. OBJECTIVE: EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AND PT FOR IMPROVING SLEEP QUALITY IN ADULTS WITH CLBP. DESIGN: SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: ACADEMIC SAFETY-NET HOSPITAL AND 7 AFFILIATED COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS. PARTICIPANTS: A TOTAL OF 320 ADULTS WITH CLBP. INTERVENTION: TWELVE WEEKLY YOGA CLASSES, 1-ON-1 PT SESSIONS, OR AN EDUCATIONAL BOOK. MAIN MEASURES: SLEEP QUALITY WAS MEASURED USING THE PITTSBURGH SLEEP QUALITY INDEX (PSQI) GLOBAL SCORE (0-21) AT BASELINE, 12 WEEKS, AND 52 WEEKS. ADDITIONALLY, WE ALSO EVALUATED HOW THE PROPORTION OF PARTICIPANTS WHO ACHIEVED A CLINICALLY MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENT IN SLEEP QUALITY (> 3-POINT REDUCTION IN PSQI) AT 12 WEEKS VARIED BY CHANGES IN PAIN AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION AT 6 WEEKS. KEY RESULTS: AMONG PARTICIPANTS (MEAN AGE = 46.0, 64% FEMALE, 82% NON-WHITE), NEARLY ALL (92%) REPORTED POOR SLEEP QUALITY (PSQI > 5) AT BASELINE. AT 12 WEEKS, MODEST IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEEP QUALITY WERE OBSERVED AMONG THE YOGA (PSQI MEAN DIFFERENCE [MD] = - 1.19, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] - 1.82, - 0.55) AND PT (PSQI MD = - 0.91, 95% CI - 1.61, - 0.20) GROUPS. PARTICIPANTS WHO REPORTED A >/= 30% IMPROVEMENT IN PAIN OR PHYSICAL FUNCTION AT 6 WEEKS, COMPARED WITH THOSE WHO IMPROVED < 10%, WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE A SLEEP QUALITY RESPONDER AT 12 WEEKS (ODDS RATIO [OR] = 3.51, 95% CI 1.73, 7.11 AND OR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.18, 3.95, RESPECTIVELY). RESULTS WERE SIMILAR AT 52 WEEKS. CONCLUSION: IN A SAMPLE OF ADULTS WITH CLBP, VIRTUALLY ALL WITH POOR SLEEP QUALITY PRIOR TO INTERVENTION, MODEST BUT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEEP QUALITY WERE OBSERVED WITH BOTH YOGA AND PT. IRRESPECTIVE OF TREATMENT, CLINICALLY IMPORTANT SLEEP IMPROVEMENTS AT THE END OF THE INTERVENTION WERE ASSOCIATED WITH MID-INTERVENTION PAIN AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION IMPROVEMENTS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01343927. 2020 13 1527 33 IYENGAR YOGA FOR DISTRESSED WOMEN: A 3-ARMED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. DISTRESS IS AN INCREASING PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM. WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF AN IYENGAR YOGA PROGRAM ON PERCEIVED STRESS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES IN DISTRESSED WOMEN AND EVALUATED A POTENTIAL DOSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP. SEVENTY-TWO FEMALE DISTRESSED SUBJECTS WERE INCLUDED INTO A 3-ARMED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL AND ALLOCATED TO YOGA GROUP 1 (N = 24) WITH TWELVE 90 MIN SESSIONS OVER 3 MONTHS, YOGA GROUP 2 (N = 24) WITH 24 SESSIONS OVER 3 MONTHS, OR A WAITING LIST CONTROL GROUP (N = 24). THE PRIMARY OUTCOME WAS STRESS PERCEPTION, MEASURED BY COHEN STRESS SCALE; SECONDARY OUTCOMES INCLUDED STATE TRAIT ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL), PROFILE OF MOOD STATES, WELL BEING, AND BODILY COMPLAINTS. AFTER THREE MONTHS, WOMEN IN THE YOGA GROUPS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN PERCEIVED STRESS (P = 0.003), STATE TRAIT ANXIETY (P = 0.021 AND P = 0.003), DEPRESSION (P = 0.008), PSYCHOLOGICAL QOL (P = 0.012), MOOD STATES BEING (P = 0.007), AND BODILY COMPLAINTS WELL(P = 0.012) WHEN COMPARED TO CONTROLS. BOTH YOGA PROGRAMS WERE SIMILARLY EFFECTIVE FOR THESE OUTCOMES; HOWEVER, COMPLIANCE WAS BETTER IN THE GROUP WITH FEWER SESSIONS (YOGA GROUP 1). DOSE EFFECTS WERE SEEN ONLY IN THE ANALYSIS OF GROUP-INDEPENDENT EFFECTS FOR BACK PAIN, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT IYENGAR YOGA EFFECTIVELY REDUCES DISTRESS AND IMPROVES RELATED PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL OUTCOMES. FURTHERMORE, ATTENDING TWICE-WEEKLY YOGA CLASSES WAS NOT SUPERIOR TO ONCE-WEEKLY CLASSES, AS A RESULT OF LIMITED COMPLIANCE IN THE TWICE-WEEKLY GROUP. 2012 14 2861 55 YOGA-BASED EXERCISE TO PREVENT FALLS IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING PEOPLE AGED 60 YEARS AND OVER: STUDY PROTOCOL FOR THE SUCCESSFUL AGEING (SAGE) YOGA RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL. INTRODUCTION: FALLS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE INDEPENDENCE AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLDER AGE. BALANCE-SPECIFIC EXERCISE PREVENTS FALLS IN PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS. YOGA IS GROWING IN POPULARITY AND CAN PROVIDE A HIGH CHALLENGE TO BALANCE; HOWEVER, THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON FALLS HAS NOT BEEN EVALUATED. THIS TRIAL AIMS TO ESTABLISH THE EFFECT ON FALLS OF A YOGA EXERCISE PROGRAMME COMPARED WITH A YOGA RELAXATION PROGRAMME IN COMMUNITY-DWELLERS AGED 60+ YEARS. METHOD AND ANALYSIS: THIS RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL WILL INVOLVE 560 COMMUNITY-DWELLING PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE RANDOMISED TO EITHER: (1) THE SUCCESSFUL AGEING (SAGE) YOGA EXERCISE PROGRAMME OR (2) A YOGA RELAXATION PROGRAMME. PRIMARY OUTCOME IS RATE OF FALLS IN THE 12 MONTHS POST RANDOMISATION. SECONDARY OUTCOMES INCLUDE MENTAL WELL-BEING, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, BALANCE SELF-CONFIDENCE, PHYSICAL FUNCTION, PAIN, GOAL ATTAINMENT AND SLEEP QUALITY AT 12 MONTHS AFTER RANDOMISATION. THE NUMBER OF FALLS PER PERSON-YEAR WILL BE ANALYSED USING NEGATIVE BINOMIAL REGRESSION MODELS TO ESTIMATE BETWEEN-GROUP DIFFERENCE IN FALL RATES. GENERALISED LINEAR MODELS WILL ASSESS THE EFFECT OF GROUP ALLOCATION ON THE CONTINUOUSLY SCORED SECONDARY OUTCOMES, ADJUSTING FOR BASELINE SCORES. AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS WILL COMPARE THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND COST-UTILITY OF THE TWO YOGA PROGRAMMES. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: PROTOCOL WAS APPROVED BY THE HUMAN RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (APPROVAL 2019/604). TRIAL RESULTS WILL BE DISSEMINATED VIA PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES, CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, LAY SUMMARIES. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: THE PROTOCOL FOR THIS TRIAL IS REGISTERED WITH THE AUSTRALIAN NEW ZEALAND CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY (ACTRN12619001183178). 2020 15 162 36 A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF YOGA FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: RESULTS OF A PILOT STUDY. OBJECTIVE: TO CONDUCT A PILOT TRIAL OF YOGA FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (LBP) TO INFORM THE FEASIBILITY AND PRACTICALITY OF CONDUCTING A FULL-SCALE TRIAL IN THE UK; AND TO ASSESS THE EFFICACY OF YOGA FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN. DESIGN: A PRAGMATIC RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL WAS UNDERTAKEN COMPARING YOGA TO USUAL CARE. PARTICIPANTS: TWENTY PARTICIPANTS WHO HAD PRESENTED TO THEIR GP WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN IN THE PREVIOUS 18 MONTHS WERE RECRUITED VIA GP RECORDS FROM ONE PRACTICE IN YORK, UK. INTERVENTIONS: TWENTY PATIENTS WERE RANDOMISED TO EITHER 12 WEEKLY 75-MIN SESSIONS OF SPECIALISED YOGA PLUS WRITTEN ADVICE, OR USUAL CARE PLUS WRITTEN ADVICE. ALLOCATION WAS 50/50. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: RECRUITMENT RATE, LEVELS OF INTERVENTION ATTENDANCE, AND LOSS TO FOLLOW-UP WERE THE MAIN NON-CLINICAL OUTCOMES. CHANGE AS MEASURED BY THE ROLAND AND MORRIS DISABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE WAS THE PRIMARY CLINICAL OUTCOME. CHANGES IN THE ABERDEEN BACK PAIN SCALE, SF-12, EQ-5D, AND PAIN SELF-EFFICACY WERE SECONDARY CLINICAL OUTCOMES. DATA WERE COLLECTED VIA POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRE AT BASELINE, 4 WEEKS, AND 12 WEEKS FOLLOW-UP. RESULTS: OF THE 286 PATIENTS IDENTIFIED FROM THE GP DATABASE, 52 (18%) CONSENTED AND RETURNED THE ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONNAIRE, OUT OF THESE 20 (6.9%) WERE ELIGIBLE AND RANDOMISED. THE TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF PATIENTS RANDOMISED FROM THE GP PRACTICE POPULATION WAS 0.28%. TEN PATIENTS WERE RANDOMISED TO YOGA, RECEIVING AN AVERAGE OF 1.7 SESSIONS (RANGE 0-5), AND 10 WERE RANDOMISED TO USUAL CARE. AT 12 WEEKS FOLLOW-UP DATA WAS RECEIVED FROM 60% OF PATIENTS IN THE YOGA GROUP AND 90% OF PATIENTS IN THE USUAL CARE GROUP (75% OVERALL). NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE SEEN BETWEEN GROUPS IN CLINICAL OUTCOMES APART FROM ON THE ABERDEEN BACK PAIN SCALE AT FOUR WEEKS FOLLOW-UP WHERE THE YOGA GROUP REPORTED SIGNIFICANTLY LESS PAIN. CONCLUSION: THIS PILOT STUDY PROVIDED USEFUL DATA AND INFORMATION TO INFORM THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A FULL-SCALE TRIAL OF YOGA FOR CLBP IN THE UK. A KEY FINDING IS THE CALCULATION OF GP PRACTICE TOTAL LIST SIZE REQUIRED FOR PATIENT RECRUITMENT IN A FULL-SCALE TRIAL, AND THE NEED TO IMPLEMENT METHODS TO INCREASE CLASS ATTENDANCE. 2010 16 556 32 COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF EARLY INTERVENTIONS FOR NON-SPECIFIC LOW BACK PAIN: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY INVESTIGATING MEDICAL YOGA, EXERCISE THERAPY AND SELF-CARE ADVICE. OBJECTIVE: TO EVALUATE THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDICAL YOGA AS AN EARLY INTERVENTION COMPARED WITH EVIDENCE-BASED EXERCISE THERAPY AND SELF-CARE ADVICE FOR NON-SPECIFIC LOW BACK PAIN. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH A COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS. SUBJECTS: A TOTAL OF 159 PARTICIPANTS RANDOMIZED INTO THE MEDICAL YOGA GROUP (N = 52), THE EXERCISE THERAPY GROUP (N = 52) AND THE SELF-CARE ADVICE GROUP (N = 55). METHODS: THE HEALTH OUTCOME MEASURE EQ-5D WAS APPLIED TO MEASURE QUALITY OF LIFE DATA COMBINED WITH COST DATA COLLECTED FROM TREATMENT GROUPS FROM BASELINE TO 12 MONTHS FOLLOW-UP. OUTCOME MEASURE WAS HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQL). INCREMENTAL COST PER QUALITY ADJUSTED LIFE YEAR (QALY) WAS ALSO CALCULATED. COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED PRIMARILY FROM THE SOCIETAL AND EMPLOYER PERSPECTIVES. RESULTS: MEDICAL YOGA IS COST-EFFECTIVE COMPARED WITH SELF-CARE ADVICE IF AN EMPLOYER CONSIDERS THE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE HRQL OF AN EMPLOYEE WITH LOW BACK PAIN JUSTIFIES THE ADDITIONAL COST OF TREATMENT (I.E. IN THIS STUDY EUR 150). FROM A SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVE, MEDICAL YOGA IS A COST-EFFECTIVE TREATMENT COMPARED WITH EXERCISE THERAPY AND SELF-CARE ADVICE IF AN ADDITIONAL QALY IS WORTH EUR 11,500. SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT MEDICAL YOGA IS MORE COST-EFFECTIVE THAN ITS ALTERNATIVES. CONCLUSION: SIX WEEKS OF UNINTERRUPTED MEDICAL YOGA THERA-PY IS A COST-EFFECTIVE EARLY INTERVENTION FOR NON-SPECIFIC LOW BACK PAIN, WHEN TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS ARE ADHERED TO. 2015 17 521 36 COMPARING YOGA, EXERCISE, AND A SELF-CARE BOOK FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN IS A COMMON PROBLEM THAT HAS ONLY MODESTLY EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OPTIONS. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CONVENTIONAL THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE OR A SELF-CARE BOOK FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: A NONPROFIT, INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. PATIENTS: 101 ADULTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN. INTERVENTION: 12-WEEK SESSIONS OF YOGA OR CONVENTIONAL THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE CLASSES OR A SELF-CARE BOOK. MEASUREMENTS: PRIMARY OUTCOMES WERE BACK-RELATED FUNCTIONAL STATUS (MODIFIED 24-POINT ROLAND DISABILITY SCALE) AND "BOTHERSOMENESS" OF PAIN (11-POINT NUMERICAL SCALE). THE PRIMARY TIME POINT WAS 12 WEEKS. CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WAS CONSIDERED TO BE 2.5 POINTS ON THE FUNCTIONAL STATUS SCALE AND 1.5 POINTS ON THE BOTHERSOMENESS SCALE. SECONDARY OUTCOMES WERE DAYS OF RESTRICTED ACTIVITY, GENERAL HEALTH STATUS, AND MEDICATION USE. RESULTS: AFTER ADJUSTMENT FOR BASELINE VALUES, BACK-RELATED FUNCTION IN THE YOGA GROUP WAS SUPERIOR TO THE BOOK AND EXERCISE GROUPS AT 12 WEEKS (YOGA VS. BOOK: MEAN DIFFERENCE, -3.4 [95% CI, -5.1 TO - 1.6] [P < 0.001]; YOGA VS. EXERCISE: MEAN DIFFERENCE, -1.8 [CI, -3.5 TO - 0.1] [P = 0.034]). NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN SYMPTOM BOTHERSOMENESS WERE FOUND BETWEEN ANY 2 GROUPS AT 12 WEEKS; AT 26 WEEKS, THE YOGA GROUP WAS SUPERIOR TO THE BOOK GROUP WITH RESPECT TO THIS MEASURE (MEAN DIFFERENCE, -2.2 [CI, -3.2 TO - 1.2]; P < 0.001). AT 26 WEEKS, BACK-RELATED FUNCTION IN THE YOGA GROUP WAS SUPERIOR TO THE BOOK GROUP (MEAN DIFFERENCE, -3.6 [CI, -5.4 TO - 1.8]; P < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: PARTICIPANTS IN THIS STUDY WERE FOLLOWED FOR ONLY 26 WEEKS AFTER RANDOMIZATION. ONLY 1 INSTRUCTOR DELIVERED EACH INTERVENTION. CONCLUSIONS: YOGA WAS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN A SELF-CARE BOOK FOR IMPROVING FUNCTION AND REDUCING CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN, AND THE BENEFITS PERSISTED FOR AT LEAST SEVERAL MONTHS. 2005 18 107 33 A PILOT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF THE EFFECTS OF CHAIR YOGA ON PAIN AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS WITH LOWER EXTREMITY OSTEOARTHRITIS. OBJECTIVES: TO DETERMINE EFFECTS OF SIT 'N' FIT CHAIR YOGA, COMPARED TO A HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM (HEP), ON PAIN AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION IN OLDER ADULTS WITH LOWER EXTREMITY OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA) WHO COULD NOT PARTICIPATE IN STANDING EXERCISE. DESIGN: TWO-ARM RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: ONE HUD SENIOR HOUSING FACILITY AND ONE DAY SENIOR CENTER IN SOUTH FLORIDA. PARTICIPANTS: COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS (N = 131) WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO CHAIR YOGA (N = 66) OR HEP (N = 65). THIRTEEN DROPPED AFTER ASSIGNMENT BUT PRIOR TO THE INTERVENTION; SIX DROPPED DURING THE INTERVENTION; 106 OF 112 COMPLETED AT LEAST 12 OF 16 SESSIONS (95% RETENTION RATE). INTERVENTIONS: PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED EITHER CHAIR YOGA OR HEP. BOTH INTERVENTIONS CONSISTED OF TWICE-WEEKLY 45-MINUTE SESSIONS FOR 8 WEEKS. MEASUREMENTS: PRIMARY: PAIN, PAIN INTERFERENCE; SECONDARY: BALANCE, GAIT SPEED, FATIGUE, FUNCTIONAL ABILITY MEASURED AT BASELINE, AFTER 4 WEEKS OF INTERVENTION, AT THE END OF THE 8-WEEK INTERVENTION, AND POST-INTERVENTION (1 AND 3 MONTHS). RESULTS: THE CHAIR YOGA GROUP SHOWED GREATER REDUCTION IN PAIN INTERFERENCE DURING THE INTERVENTION (P = .01), SUSTAINED THROUGH 3 MONTHS (P = .022). WOMAC PAIN (P = .048), GAIT SPEED (P = .024), AND FATIGUE (P = .037) WERE IMPROVED IN THE YOGA GROUP DURING THE INTERVENTION (P = .048) BUT IMPROVEMENTS WERE NOT SUSTAINED POST INTERVENTION. CHAIR YOGA HAD NO EFFECT ON BALANCE. CONCLUSION: AN 8-WEEK CHAIR YOGA PROGRAM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCTION IN PAIN, PAIN INTERFERENCE, AND FATIGUE, AND IMPROVEMENT IN GAIT SPEED, BUT ONLY THE EFFECTS ON PAIN INTERFERENCE WERE SUSTAINED 3 MONTHS POST INTERVENTION. CHAIR YOGA SHOULD BE FURTHER EXPLORED AS A NONPHARMACOLOGIC INTERVENTION FOR OLDER PEOPLE WITH OA IN THE LOWER EXTREMITIES. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT02113410. 2017 19 2654 26 YOGA IMPROVES QUALITY OF LIFE AND BENEFIT FINDING IN WOMEN UNDERGOING RADIOTHERAPY FOR BREAST CANCER. THIS STUDY EXAMINED THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) AND PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER UNDERGOING RADIOTHERAPY. SIXTY-ONE WOMEN WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER A YOGA OR A WAIT-LIST GROUP. YOGA CLASSES WERE TAUGHT BIWEEKLY DURING THE 6 WEEKS OF RADIOTHERAPY. PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED MEASURES OF QOL, FATIGUE, BENEFIT FINDING (FINDING MEANING IN THE CANCER EXPERIENCE), INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS, SLEEP DISTURBANCES, DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, AND ANXIETY BEFORE RADIOTHERAPY AND THEN AGAIN 1 WEEK, 1 MONTH, AND 3 MONTHS AFTER THE END OF RADIOTHERAPY. GENERAL LINEAR MODEL ANALYSES REVEALED THAT COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP, THE YOGA GROUP REPORTED SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER GENERAL HEALTH PERCEPTION (P = .005) AND PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING SCORES (P = .04) 1 WEEK POSTRADIOTHERAPY; HIGHER LEVELS OF INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS 1 MONTH POSTRADIOTHERAPY (P = .01); AND GREATER BENEFIT FINDING 3 MONTHS POSTRADIOTHERAPY (P = .01). THERE WERE NO OTHER GROUP DIFFERENCES IN OTHER QOL SUBSCALES FOR FATIGUE, DEPRESSION, OR SLEEP SCORES. EXPLORATORY ANALYSES INDICATED THAT INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS 1 MONTH AFTER RADIOTHERAPY WERE SIGNIFICANTLY POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH BENEFIT FINDING 3 MONTHS AFTER RADIOTHERAPY (R = .36, P = .011). OUR RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE YOGA PROGRAM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH STATISTICALLY AND CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN ASPECTS OF QOL. 2010 20 2132 27 THE EFFECTS OF A GENTLE YOGA PROGRAM ON SLEEP, MOOD, AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN OLDER WOMEN WITH RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME (RLS): A PRELIMINARY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. OBJECTIVE. TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA VERSUS AN EDUCATIONAL FILM PROGRAM ON SLEEP, MOOD, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND SYMPATHETIC ACTIVATION IN OLDER WOMEN WITH RLS. METHODS. PARTICIPANTS WERE DRAWN FROM A LARGER TRIAL REGARDING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK PROFILES IN OVERWEIGHT, SEDENTARY POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN. SEVENTY-FIVE WOMEN WERE RANDOMIZED TO RECEIVE EITHER AN 8-WEEK YOGA (N = 38) OR EDUCATIONAL FILM (N = 37) PROGRAM. ALL 75 PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED AN RLS SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE. THE 20 WOMEN WHO MET ALL FOUR DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR RLS (N = 10 YOGA, 10 FILM GROUP) COMPRISED THE POPULATION FOR THIS NESTED STUDY. MAIN OUTCOMES ASSESSED PRE- AND POST-TREATMENT INCLUDED: SLEEP (PITTSBURGH SLEEP QUALITY INDEX), STRESS (PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE), MOOD (PROFILE OF MOOD STATES, STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY), BLOOD PRESSURE, AND HEART RATE. RESULTS. THE YOGA GROUP DEMONSTRATED SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER IMPROVEMENTS THAN CONTROLS IN MULTIPLE DOMAINS OF SLEEP QUALITY AND MOOD, AND SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER REDUCTIONS IN INSOMNIA PREVALENCE, ANXIETY, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND BLOOD PRESSURE (ALL P'S