1 666 118 EFFECT OF A 12-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION ON FEAR OF FALLING AND BALANCE IN OLDER ADULTS: A PILOT STUDY. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE WHETHER FEAR OF FALLING (FOF) AND BALANCE IMPROVED AFTER A 12-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION AMONG OLDER ADULTS. DESIGN: A 12-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION SINGLE-ARMED PILOT STUDY. SETTING: A RETIREMENT COMMUNITY IN A MEDIUM-SIZED UNIVERSITY TOWN IN THE MIDWEST. PARTICIPANTS: A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE OF ADULTS (N=14) OVER THE AGE OF 65 YEARS WHO ALL ENDORSED AN FOF. INTERVENTION: EACH PARTICIPANT TOOK PART IN A BIWEEKLY 12-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION. THE YOGA SESSIONS INCLUDED BOTH PHYSICAL POSTURES AND BREATHING EXERCISES. POSTURES WERE COMPLETED IN SITTING AND STANDING POSITIONS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: WE MEASURED FOF WITH THE ILLINOIS FOF MEASURE AND BALANCE WITH THE BERG BALANCE SCALE. UPPER- AND LOWER-BODY FLEXIBILITY WERE MEASURED WITH THE BACK SCRATCH TEST AND CHAIR SIT AND REACH TEST, RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS: FOF DECREASED BY 6%, STATIC BALANCE INCREASED BY 4% (P=.045), AND LOWER-BODY FLEXIBILITY INCREASED BY 34%. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT YOGA MAY BE A PROMISING INTERVENTION TO MANAGE FOF AND IMPROVE BALANCE, THEREBY REDUCING FALL RISK FOR OLDER ADULTS. REHABILITATION THERAPISTS MAY WISH TO EXPLORE YOGA AS A MODALITY FOR BALANCE AND FALLS PROGRAMMING; HOWEVER, FUTURE RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO CONFIRM THE USE OF YOGA IN SUCH PROGRAMMING. 2010 2 2101 40 THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON BALANCE AND FEAR OF FALLING IN OLDER ADULTS. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON BALANCE AND FEAR OF FALLING IN OLDER ADULTS. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: JAHANDIDEGAN CENTER IN SHIRAZ, SOUTHERN IRAN. PARTICIPANTS: FORTY PERSONS (17 MEN AND 23 WOMEN) BETWEEN THE AGES OF 60-74 YEARS WITH A MODIFIED FALLS EFFICACY SCALE (MFES) SCORE <8 AND A BERG BALANCE SCALE (BBS) SCORE <45. AFTER COMPLETING THE MFES QUESTIONNAIRE AND BBS MEASUREMENT, THE PARTICIPANTS WERE DIVIDED INTO INTERVENTION AND CONTROL GROUPS. BBS MEASUREMENT AND THE MFES QUESTIONNAIRE WERE COMPLETED AGAIN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INTERVENTION. INTERVENTION: THE INTERVENTION GROUP PARTICIPATED IN 2 YOGA PRACTICE SESSIONS PER WEEK FOR 8 WEEKS. THE CONTROL GROUP RECEIVED NO INTERVENTION. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: FEAR OF FALLING WAS MEASURED WITH THE MFES AND BALANCE WAS MEASURED WITH THE BBS. RESULTS: WE FOUND SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN BOTH VARIABLES (P < .0001). MEAN DIFFERENCES BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION FOR THE BBS FOR YOGA AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE 10.19 AND -1.16, RESPECTIVELY. MEAN DIFFERENCES BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION FOR THE MFES FOR YOGA AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE 1.62 AND -0.21, RESPECTIVELY. CONCLUSION: YOGA IS A POTENTIAL INTERVENTION TO REDUCE FEAR OF FALLING AND IMPROVE BALANCE IN OLDER ADULTS. 2016 3 1276 30 FUNCTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE FOLLOWING A RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF YOGA. INDIVIDUALS WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE (PD) EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT LIMITATIONS IN MOTOR FUNCTION, FUNCTIONAL GAIT, POSTURAL STABILITY, AND BALANCE. THESE LIMITATIONS OFTEN LEAD TO HIGHER INCIDENCES OF FALLS, WHICH HAVE SIGNIFICANT COMPLICATIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PD. YOGA MAY IMPROVE THESE FUNCTIONAL DEFICITS IN INDIVIDUALS WITH PD. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE CHANGES IN MOTOR FUNCTION, FUNCTIONAL GAIT, POSTURAL STABILITY, AND BALANCE CONTROL FOR COMMUNITY DWELLING INDIVIDUALS WITH PD. THIS RANDOMIZED, WAIT-LIST CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY EXAMINED THE INFLUENCE OF AN 8-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION FOR PEOPLE WITH PD WHO MET THE FOLLOWING INCLUSION CRITERIA: ENDORSING A FEAR OF FALLING, BEING ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH, SCORING 4/6 ON THE MINIMENTAL STATE EXAM, AND BEING WILLING TO ATTEND THE INTERVENTION TWICE WEEKLY FOR 8-WEEKS. PARTICIPANTS IN THE YOGA GROUP (N=15) EXPERIENCED IMPROVEMENTS IN MOTOR FUNCTION, POSTURAL STABILITY, FUNCTIONAL GAIT, AND FREEZING GAIT, AS WELL AS REDUCTIONS IN FALL RISK. PARTICIPANTS IN THE WAIT-LIST CONTROL (N=12) ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED IN POSTURAL STABILITY, ALTHOUGH THEIR FALL RISK WAS NOT REDUCED. INDIVIDUALS IN THE YOGA GROUP SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THEIR FALL RISK. AN 8-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION MAY REDUCE FALL RISK AND IMPROVE POSTURAL STABILITY, AND FUNCTIONAL AND FREEZING GAIT IN INDIVIDUALS WITH PD. THIS CLINICAL TRIAL IS REGISTERED AS PROTOCOL RECORD PRO00041068 IN CLINICALTRIALS.GOV. 2018 4 916 39 EFFECTIVENESS OF SOMATIC YOGA AND MEDITATION: A PILOT STUDY IN A MULTICULTURAL CANCER SURVIVOR POPULATION WITH CHEMOTHERAPY-INDUCED PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY. CHEMOTHERAPY-INDUCED PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY (CIPN) CAUSES SIGNIFICANT PAIN AND IS AN ADVERSE EFFECT OF TREATMENT WITH CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS. WE EXPLORED A SOMATIC YOGA AND MEDITATION INTERVENTION IN A PREDOMINANTLY MINORITY POPULATION. GOALS INCLUDED DESCRIBING STRATEGIES FOR MINORITY INCLUSION AND TESTING FEASIBILITY AND EFFECTIVENESS. EIGHT INDIVIDUALS WITH CIPN ENROLLED IN A SINGLE-ARM FEASIBILITY TRIAL. SOMATIC YOGA AND MEDITATION WERE PROVIDED WEEKLY FOR 8 WEEKS, WITH AN ADDITIONAL HOME PROGRAM COMPONENT. THE PRIMARY OUTCOMES WERE SIT AND REACH, FUNCTIONAL REACH, AND TIMED UP AND GO. SECONDARY OUTCOMES WERE PATIENT NEUROTOXICITY QUESTIONNAIRE, FACT-GOG-NTX (FOR ADDRESSING PATIENT CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS), BRIEF PAIN INVENTORY, PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE, PITTSBURGH SLEEP QUALITY INDEX, AND FALLS EFFICACY SCALE. SENSITIVITY TO VIBRATION WAS MEASURED VIA BIOTHESIOMETER. PARTICIPANTS WITH A MEAN AGE OF 65 (49-73) YEARS SELF-REPORTED AS 63% AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND 37% CAUCASIAN. THEY ATTENDED 81% OF THE SESSIONS, AND NO ADVERSE EVENTS WE RE RE P O RTED. CIPN SYMPTOMS (FAC T- G O G - N T X ) IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY (FROM 88.88 TO 106.88, STANDARD DEVIATION = 20.03; P = 0.039). FEAR OF FALLING IMPROVED, APPROACHING SIGNIFICANCE (FROM 39.26 TO 34.38, STANDARD DEVIATION = 6.081; P = 0.058). OTHER MEASURES SHOWED IMPROVEMENT TRENDS, WITH A SLIGHT INCREASE IN BRIEF PAIN INVENTORY PAIN SEVERITY (FROM 3.50 TO 3.75, P = 0.041) POSSIBLY REFLECTING COMORBIDITIES. FOUR QUALITATIVE THEMES EMERGED: (1) CIPN SYMPTOM VARIABILITY, WITH MUSCULOSKELETAL COMORBIDITIES; (2) UTILITY OF LEARNED SKILLS; (3) IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-CONFIDENCE, BALANCE, AND STABILITY; AND (4) SOCIAL SUPPORT, WITH CIPN EXPERIENCE VALIDATION AND INCREASING HEALTH LITERACY. CHALLENGES OF RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION REQUIRE SPECIFIC OUTREACH, COMMUNITY TRUST, AND HEALTH LITERACY. PRELIMINARY DATA SUGGEST THAT SOMATIC YOGA AND MEDITATION MAY AFFECT FEAR OF FALLING AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER SURVIVORS WITH CIPN. A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL USING INCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION METHODS IS INDICATED TO ESTABLISH THE INTERVENTION'S EFFICACY. 2020 5 1765 40 POSTSTROKE BALANCE IMPROVES WITH YOGA: A PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: BALANCE IMPAIRMENT IS COMMON AFTER STROKE; MODIFIED YOGA MAY BE ABLE TO IMPROVE BALANCE AND OTHER IMPORTANT POSTSTROKE VARIABLES. SCIENTIFIC-EVIDENCE IS NEEDED TO SUPPORT SUCH TREATMENT INTERVENTIONS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF A YOGA-BASED REHABILITATION INTERVENTION ON BALANCE, BALANCE SELF-EFFICACY, FEAR OF FALLING (FOF), AND QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER STROKE. METHODS: THIS WAS A PROSPECTIVE, RANDOMIZED, PILOT STUDY OF YOGA-BASED REHABILITATION FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC STROKE. ALL YOGA SESSIONS WERE TAUGHT BY A REGISTERED YOGA THERAPIST, OCCURRED TWICE PER WEEK FOR 8 WEEKS AND INCLUDED SEATED, STANDING, AND FLOOR POSTURES WITH RELAXATION AND MEDITATION. BALANCE WAS ASSESSED WITH THE BERG BALANCE SCALE, BALANCE SELF-EFFICACY WITH THE ACTIVITIES-SPECIFIC BALANCE CONFIDENCE SCALE, FOF WITH A DICHOTOMOUS YES/NO QUESTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE WITH THE STROKE SPECIFIC QUALITY OF LIFE SCALE. RESULTS: THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WAIT-LIST CONTROL (N=10) AND YOGA (N=37) GROUPS IN BASELINE OR FOLLOW-UP SCORES. HOWEVER, USING WITHIN-GROUP COMPARISONS, YOGA GROUP DATA DEMONSTRATED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN BALANCE (BERG BALANCE SCALE, 41.3+/-11.7 VS 46.3+/-9.1; P<0.001) AND FOF (51% VS 46% WITH FOF; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A GROUP YOGA-BASED REHABILITATION INTERVENTION FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC STROKE HAS POTENTIAL IN IMPROVING MULTIPLE POSTSTROKE VARIABLES. GROUP YOGA MAY BE COMPLEMENTARY TO REHABILITATION, MAY BE POSSIBLE IN MEDICAL-BASED AND COMMUNITY-BASED SETTINGS, AND MAY BE COST-EFFECTIVE. FURTHER TESTING OF GROUP YOGA-BASED REHABILITATION INTERVENTIONS IS WARRANTED. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION- URL: HTTP://CLINICALTRIALS.GOV. UNIQUE IDENTIFIER: NCT01109602. 2012 6 1942 38 SAFETY AND FEASIBILITY OF MODIFIED CHAIR-YOGA ON FUNCTIONAL OUTCOME AMONG ELDERLY AT RISK FOR FALLS. FALLS ARE AMONG THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS AFFECTING OLDER ADULTS. AT LEAST 50% OF THOSE OVER THE AGE OF 80 FALL ANNUALLY. THE GOAL OF THIS PILOT STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE SAFETY AND FEASIBILITY OF STRUCTURED YOGA IN AN ELDERLY POPULATION WITH FALL RISK. SENIORS AT RISK FOR FALLS WERE IDENTIFIED AND ENROLLED IN A SINGLE ARM PILOT TRIAL. A CHAIR BASED YOGA PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED TWICE A WEEK FOR 8 WEEKS. THE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED FROM PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED PILOT DATA. A BATTERY OF VALIDATED INSTRUMENTS WAS ADMINISTERED AT BASELINE AND WEEK EIGHT AND WAS USED TO IDENTIFY WHICH INSTRUMENTS MAY BE SENSITIVE TO CHANGE AS A RESULT OF A YOGA PROGRAM. AMONG SIXTEEN SENIORS (MEDIAN AGE OF 88) WITH A PREVIOUS HISTORY OF FALLS, 87% PROVIDED DATA FOR ASSESSMENT AT THE END OF THE INTERVENTION. TWO PATIENTS WITHDREW, ONE DUE TO A FALL OUTSIDE THE INSTITUTION AND THE OTHER DUE TO LACK OF TIME AND INTEREST. THERE WERE NO ADVERSE EVENTS DURING THE YOGA SESSIONS. PAIRED-T TESTS COMPARED PRE-POST CHANGES AND GAINS WERE NOTED IN FEAR OF FALLING (5.27 TO 2.60; P = 0.029) AND SPPB SIT TO STAND SUBSCALE (0.31 TO 1.00; P =.022). IMPROVED TRENDS WERE NOTED IN ANXIETY AND THE TIMED UP AND GO ASSESSMENTS. WE FOUND THE MODIFIED CHAIR-YOGA PROGRAM IS SAFE AND RECRUITMENT IS FEASIBLE. OUR DATA SUGGESTS THAT YOGA MAY BE BENEFICIAL IN IMPROVING MOBILITY AND REDUCING FEAR OF FALLING WHICH WARRANTS ADDITIONAL RESEARCH VIA RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. 2012 7 12 52 "MERGING YOGA AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY (MY-OT): A FEASIBILITY AND PILOT STUDY". OBJECTIVE: TO EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY AND BENEFITS OF THE MERGING YOGA AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY (MY-OT) INTERVENTION. DESIGN: THIS IS THE PRIMARY ANALYSIS OF A NON-CONTROLLED PRETEST-POSTTEST PILOT STUDY TO UNDERSTAND THE FEASIBILITY AND IMPACT OF MY-OT ON BALANCE, BALANCE SELF-EFFICACY, AND FALL RISK FACTOR MANAGEMENT IN PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC STROKE. SETTING: UNIVERSITY RESEARCH LABORATORY. PARTICIPANTS: PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC STROKE WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY IF THEY: HAD SUSTAINED A FALL OR HAD FEAR OF FALLING, WERE ABLE TO STAND, AND HAND IMPAIRED BALANCE AND WERE AT RISK FOR FALLS (