1 2518 215 YOGA COMPARED TO NON-EXERCISE OR PHYSICAL THERAPY EXERCISE ON PAIN, DISABILITY, AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP) IS A COMMON AND OFTEN DISABLING MUSCULOSKELETAL CONDITION. YOGA HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE AN EFFECTIVE THERAPY FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN. HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL CONTROVERSIES ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF YOGA AT DIFFERENT FOLLOW-UP PERIODS AND COMPARED WITH OTHER PHYSICAL THERAPY EXERCISES. OBJECTIVE: TO CRITICALLY COMPARE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN ON PAIN, DISABILITY, QUALITY OF LIFE WITH NON-EXERCISE (E.G. USUAL CARE, EDUCATION), PHYSICAL THERAPY EXERCISE. METHODS: THIS STUDY WAS REGISTERED IN PROSPERO, AND THE REGISTRATION NUMBER WAS CRD42020159865. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF ONLINE DATABASES INCLUDED PUBMED, WEB OF SCIENCE, COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, EMBASE WHICH EVALUATED EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN ON PAIN, DISABILITY, AND QUALITY OF LIFE WERE SEARCHED FROM INCEPTION TIME TO NOVEMBER 1, 2019. STUDIES WERE ELIGIBLE IF THEY ASSESSED AT LEAST ONE IMPORTANT OUTCOME, NAMELY PAIN, BACK-SPECIFIC DISABILITY, QUALITY OF LIFE. THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL WAS USED TO ASSESS THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF INCLUDED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. THE CONTINUOUS OUTCOMES WERE ANALYZED BY CALCULATING THE MEAN DIFFERENCE (MD) OR STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) ACCORDING TO WHETHER COMBINING OUTCOMES MEASURED ON DIFFERENT SCALES OR NOT. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 18 RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE INCLUDED IN THIS META-ANALYSIS. YOGA COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE PAIN AT 4 TO 8 WEEKS (MD = -0.83, 95% CI = -1.19 TO -0.48, P<0.00001, I2 = 0%), 3 MONTHS (MD = -0.43, 95% CI = -0.64 TO -0.23, P<0.0001, I2 = 0%), 6 TO 7 MONTHS (MD = -0.56, 95% CI = -1.02 TO -0.11, P = 0.02, I2 = 50%), AND WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT IN 12 MONTHS (MD = -0.52, 95% CI = -1.64 TO 0.59, P = 0.36, I2 = 87%) COMPARED WITH NON-EXERCISE. YOGA WAS BETTER THAN NON-EXERCISE ON DISABILITY AT 4 TO 8 WEEKS (SMD = -0.30, 95% CI = -0.51 TO -0.10, P = 0.003, I2 = 0%), 3 MONTHS (SMD = -0.31, 95% CI = -0.45 TO -0.18, P<0.00001, I2 = 30%), 6 MONTHS (SMD = -0.38, 95% CI = -0.53 TO -0.23, P<0.00001, I2 = 0%), 12 MONTHS (SMD = -0.33, 95% CI = -0.54 TO -0.12, P = 0.002, I2 = 9%). THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE ON PAIN, DISABILITY COMPARED WITH PHYSICAL THERAPY EXERCISE GROUP. FURTHERMORE, IT SUGGESTED THAT THERE WAS A NON-SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE ON PHYSICAL AND MENTAL QUALITY OF LIFE BETWEEN YOGA AND ANY OTHER INTERVENTIONS. CONCLUSION: THIS META-ANALYSIS PROVIDED EVIDENCE FROM VERY LOW TO MODERATE INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN PATIENTS AT DIFFERENT TIME POINTS. YOGA MIGHT DECREASE PAIN FROM SHORT TERM TO INTERMEDIATE TERM AND IMPROVE FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY STATUS FROM SHORT TERM TO LONG TERM COMPARED WITH NON-EXERCISE (E.G. USUAL CARE, EDUCATION). YOGA HAD THE SAME EFFECT ON PAIN AND DISABILITY AS ANY OTHER EXERCISE OR PHYSICAL THERAPY. YOGA MIGHT NOT IMPROVE THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL QUALITY OF LIFE BASED ON THE RESULT OF A MERGING. 2020 2 2568 67 YOGA FOR DEPRESSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: MIND-BODY MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS ARE COMMONLY USED TO COPE WITH DEPRESSION AND YOGA IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY USED MIND-BODY INTERVENTIONS. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR DEPRESSION. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, PSYCINFO, AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED THROUGH JANUARY 2013. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA FOR PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH ELEVATED LEVELS OF DEPRESSION WERE INCLUDED. MAIN OUTCOMES WERE SEVERITY OF DEPRESSION AND REMISSION RATES, SECONDARY OUTCOMES WERE ANXIETY, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND SAFETY. RESULTS: TWELVE RCTS WITH 619 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. THREE RCTS HAD LOW RISK OF BIAS. REGARDING SEVERITY OF DEPRESSION, THERE WAS MODERATE EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED TO USUAL CARE (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) = -0.69; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) -0.99, -0.39; P < .001), AND LIMITED EVIDENCE COMPARED TO RELAXATION (SMD = -0.62; 95%CI -1.03, -0.22; P = .003), AND AEROBIC EXERCISE (SMD = -0.59; 95% CI -0.99, -0.18; P = .004). LIMITED EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA ON ANXIETY COMPARED TO RELAXATION (SMD = -0.79; 95% CI -1.3, -0.26; P = .004). SUBGROUP ANALYSES REVEALED EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS AND IN INDIVIDUALS WITH ELEVATED LEVELS OF DEPRESSION. DUE TO THE PAUCITY AND HETEROGENEITY OF THE RCTS, NO META-ANALYSES ON LONG-TERM EFFECTS WERE POSSIBLE. NO RCT REPORTED SAFETY DATA. CONCLUSIONS: DESPITE METHODOLOGICAL DRAWBACKS OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES, YOGA COULD BE CONSIDERED AN ANCILLARY TREATMENT OPTION FOR PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH ELEVATED LEVELS OF DEPRESSION. 2013 3 2614 74 YOGA FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA, QUALITY OF LIFE, FUNCTION, AND HOSPITALIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, PSYCINFO, AND INDMED WERE SCREENED THROUGH AUGUST 2012. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA TO USUAL CARE OR NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS WERE ANALYZED WHEN THEY ASSESSED SYMPTOMS OR QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. COGNITIVE FUNCTION, SOCIAL FUNCTION, HOSPITALIZATION, AND SAFETY WERE DEFINED AS SECONDARY OUTCOMES. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE RISK OF BIAS TOOL RECOMMENDED BY THE COCHRANE BACK REVIEW GROUP. STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES (SMD) AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE CALCULATED. RESULTS: FIVE RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 337 PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED; 2 RCTS HAD LOW RISK OF BIAS. TWO RCTS COMPARED YOGA TO USUAL CARE; 1 RCT COMPARED YOGA TO EXERCISE; AND 2 3-ARM RCTS COMPARED YOGA TO USUAL CARE AND EXERCISE. NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED TO USUAL CARE ON POSITIVE SYMPTOMS (SMD = -0.58; 95% CI -1.52 TO 0.37; P = 0.23), OR NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS (SMD = -0.59; 95% CI -1.87 TO 0.69; P = 0.36). MODERATE EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON QUALITY OF LIFE COMPARED TO USUAL CARE (SMD = 2.28; 95% CI 0.42 TO 4.14; P = 0.02). THESE EFFECTS WERE ONLY PRESENT IN STUDIES WITH HIGH RISK OF BIAS. NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON SOCIAL FUNCTION (SMD = 1.20; 95% CI -0.78 TO 3.18; P = 0.23). COMPARING YOGA TO EXERCISE, NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON POSITIVE SYMPTOMS (SMD = -0.35; 95% CI -0.75 TO 0.05; P = 0.09), NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS (SMD = -0.28; 95% CI -1.42 TO 0.86; P = 0.63), QUALITY OF LIFE (SMD = 0.17; 95% CI -0.27 TO 0.61; P = 0.45), OR SOCIAL FUNCTION (SMD = 0.20; 95% CI -0.27 TO 0.67; P = 0.41). ONLY 1 RCT REPORTED ADVERSE EVENTS. CONCLUSIONS: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW FOUND ONLY MODERATE EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA ON QUALITY OF LIFE. AS THESE EFFECTS WERE NOT CLEARLY DISTINGUISHABLE FROM BIAS AND SAFETY OF THE INTERVENTION WAS UNCLEAR, NO RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE REGARDING YOGA AS A ROUTINE INTERVENTION FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS. 2013 4 2587 109 YOGA FOR IMPROVING HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, MENTAL HEALTH AND CANCER-RELATED SYMPTOMS IN WOMEN DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER. BACKGROUND: BREAST CANCER IS THE CANCER MOST FREQUENTLY DIAGNOSED IN WOMEN WORLDWIDE. EVEN THOUGH SURVIVAL RATES ARE CONTINUALLY INCREASING, BREAST CANCER IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS, CHRONIC PAIN, FATIGUE AND IMPAIRED QUALITY OF LIFE. YOGA COMPRISES ADVICE FOR AN ETHICAL LIFESTYLE, SPIRITUAL PRACTICE, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, BREATHING EXERCISES AND MEDITATION. IT IS A COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY THAT IS COMMONLY RECOMMENDED FOR BREAST CANCER-RELATED IMPAIRMENTS AND HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH IN PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT CANCER TYPES. OBJECTIVES: TO ASSESS EFFECTS OF YOGA ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, MENTAL HEALTH AND CANCER-RELATED SYMPTOMS AMONG WOMEN WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST CANCER WHO ARE RECEIVING ACTIVE TREATMENT OR HAVE COMPLETED TREATMENT. SEARCH METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE COCHRANE BREAST CANCER SPECIALISED REGISTER, MEDLINE (VIA PUBMED), EMBASE, THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL; 2016, ISSUE 1), INDEXING OF INDIAN MEDICAL JOURNALS (INDMED), THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) INTERNATIONAL CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY PLATFORM (ICTRP) SEARCH PORTAL AND CLINICALTRIALS.GOV ON 29 JANUARY 2016. WE ALSO SEARCHED REFERENCE LISTS OF IDENTIFIED RELEVANT TRIALS OR REVIEWS, AS WELL AS CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE RESEARCH (ICCMR), THE EUROPEAN CONGRESS FOR INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE (ECIM) AND THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY (ASCO). WE APPLIED NO LANGUAGE RESTRICTIONS. SELECTION CRITERIA: RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE ELIGIBLE WHEN THEY (1) COMPARED YOGA INTERVENTIONS VERSUS NO THERAPY OR VERSUS ANY OTHER ACTIVE THERAPY IN WOMEN WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF NON-METASTATIC OR METASTATIC BREAST CANCER, AND (2) ASSESSED AT LEAST ONE OF THE PRIMARY OUTCOMES ON PATIENT-REPORTED INSTRUMENTS, INCLUDING HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, FATIGUE OR SLEEP DISTURBANCES. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: TWO REVIEW AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY COLLECTED DATA ON METHODS AND RESULTS. WE EXPRESSED OUTCOMES AS STANDARDISED MEAN DIFFERENCES (SMDS) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CIS) AND CONDUCTED RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL META-ANALYSES. WE ASSESSED POTENTIAL RISK OF PUBLICATION BIAS THROUGH VISUAL ANALYSIS OF FUNNEL PLOT SYMMETRY AND HETEROGENEITY BETWEEN STUDIES BY USING THE CHI(2) TEST AND THE I(2) STATISTIC. WE CONDUCTED SUBGROUP ANALYSES FOR CURRENT TREATMENT STATUS, TIME SINCE DIAGNOSIS, STAGE OF CANCER AND TYPE OF YOGA INTERVENTION. MAIN RESULTS: WE INCLUDED 24 STUDIES WITH A TOTAL OF 2166 PARTICIPANTS, 23 OF WHICH PROVIDED DATA FOR META-ANALYSIS. THIRTEEN STUDIES HAD LOW RISK OF SELECTION BIAS, FIVE STUDIES REPORTED ADEQUATE BLINDING OF OUTCOME ASSESSMENT AND 15 STUDIES HAD LOW RISK OF ATTRITION BIAS.SEVENTEEN STUDIES THAT COMPARED YOGA VERSUS NO THERAPY PROVIDED MODERATE-QUALITY EVIDENCE SHOWING THAT YOGA IMPROVED HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (POOLED SMD 0.22, 95% CI 0.04 TO 0.40; 10 STUDIES, 675 PARTICIPANTS), REDUCED FATIGUE (POOLED SMD -0.48, 95% CI -0.75 TO -0.20; 11 STUDIES, 883 PARTICIPANTS) AND REDUCED SLEEP DISTURBANCES IN THE SHORT TERM (POOLED SMD -0.25, 95% CI -0.40 TO -0.09; SIX STUDIES, 657 PARTICIPANTS). THE FUNNEL PLOT FOR HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE WAS ASYMMETRICAL, FAVOURING NO THERAPY, AND THE FUNNEL PLOT FOR FATIGUE WAS ROUGHLY SYMMETRICAL. THIS HINTS AT OVERALL LOW RISK OF PUBLICATION BIAS. YOGA DID NOT APPEAR TO REDUCE DEPRESSION (POOLED SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.31 TO 0.05; SEVEN STUDIES, 496 PARTICIPANTS; LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE) OR ANXIETY (POOLED SMD -0.53, 95% CI -1.10 TO 0.04; SIX STUDIES, 346 PARTICIPANTS; VERY LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE) IN THE SHORT TERM AND HAD NO MEDIUM-TERM EFFECTS ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (POOLED SMD 0.10, 95% CI -0.23 TO 0.42; TWO STUDIES, 146 PARTICIPANTS; LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE) OR FATIGUE (POOLED SMD -0.04, 95% CI -0.36 TO 0.29; TWO STUDIES, 146 PARTICIPANTS; LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE). INVESTIGATORS REPORTED NO SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS.FOUR STUDIES THAT COMPARED YOGA VERSUS PSYCHOSOCIAL/EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS PROVIDED MODERATE-QUALITY EVIDENCE INDICATING THAT YOGA CAN REDUCE DEPRESSION (POOLED SMD -2.29, 95% CI -3.97 TO -0.61; FOUR STUDIES, 226 PARTICIPANTS), ANXIETY (POOLED SMD -2.21, 95% CI -3.90 TO -0.52; THREE STUDIES, 195 PARTICIPANTS) AND FATIGUE (POOLED SMD -0.90, 95% CI -1.31 TO -0.50; TWO STUDIES, 106 PARTICIPANTS) IN THE SHORT TERM. VERY LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE SHOWED NO SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (POOLED SMD 0.81, 95% CI -0.50 TO 2.12; TWO STUDIES, 153 PARTICIPANTS) OR SLEEP DISTURBANCES (POOLED SMD -0.21, 95% CI -0.76 TO 0.34; TWO STUDIES, 119 PARTICIPANTS). NO TRIAL ADEQUATELY REPORTED SAFETY-RELATED DATA.THREE STUDIES THAT COMPARED YOGA VERSUS EXERCISE PRESENTED VERY LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE SHOWING NO SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (POOLED SMD -0.04, 95% CI -0.30 TO 0.23; THREE STUDIES, 233 PARTICIPANTS) OR FATIGUE (POOLED SMD -0.21, 95% CI -0.66 TO 0.25; THREE STUDIES, 233 PARTICIPANTS); NO TRIAL PROVIDED SAFETY-RELATED DATA. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: MODERATE-QUALITY EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE RECOMMENDATION OF YOGA AS A SUPPORTIVE INTERVENTION FOR IMPROVING HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AND REDUCING FATIGUE AND SLEEP DISTURBANCES WHEN COMPARED WITH NO THERAPY, AS WELL AS FOR REDUCING DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND FATIGUE, WHEN COMPARED WITH PSYCHOSOCIAL/EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS. VERY LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT YOGA MIGHT BE AS EFFECTIVE AS OTHER EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS AND MIGHT BE USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO OTHER EXERCISE PROGRAMMES. 2017 5 2110 78 THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON SLEEP QUALITY AND INSOMNIA IN WOMEN WITH SLEEP PROBLEMS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND SAFETY OF YOGA OF WOMEN WITH SLEEP PROBLEMS BY PERFORMING A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, CLINICALKEY, SCIENCEDIRECT, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SEARCHED THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF JUNE, 2019. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS COMPARING YOGA GROUPS WITH CONTROL GROUPS IN WOMEN WITH SLEEP PROBLEMS WERE INCLUDED. TWO REVIEWERS INDEPENDENTLY EVALUATED RISK OF BIAS BY USING THE RISK OF BIAS TOOL SUGGESTED BY THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION FOR PROGRAMMING AND CONDUCTING SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES. THE MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE WAS SLEEP QUALITY OR THE SEVERITY OF INSOMNIA, WHICH WAS MEASURED USING SUBJECTIVE INSTRUMENTS, SUCH AS THE PITTSBURGH SLEEP QUALITY INDEX (PSQI), INSOMNIA SEVERITY INDEX (ISI), OR OBJECTIVE INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS POLYSOMNOGRAPHY, ACTIGRAPHY, AND SAFETY OF THE INTERVENTION. FOR EACH OUTCOME, A STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) AND CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CIS) OF 95% WERE DETERMINED. RESULTS: NINETEEN STUDIES IN THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW INCLUDED 1832 PARTICIPANTS. THE META-ANALYSIS OF THE COMBINED DATA CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO COMPREHENSIVE META-ANALYSIS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN SLEEP (SMD = - 0.327, 95% CI = - 0.506 TO - 0.148, P < 0.001). META-ANALYSES REVEALED POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA USING PSQI SCORES IN 16 RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS (RCTS), COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP IN IMPROVING SLEEP QUALITY AMONG WOMEN USING PSQI (SMD = - 0.54; 95% CI = - 0.89 TO - 0.19; P = 0.003). HOWEVER, THREE RCTS REVEALED NO EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP IN REDUCING INSOMNIA AMONG WOMEN USING ISI (SMD = - 0.13; 95% CI = - 0.74 TO 0.48; P = 0.69). SEVEN RCTS REVEALED NO EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP IN IMPROVING SLEEP QUALITY FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER USING PSQI (SMD = - 0.15; 95% CI = - 0.31 TO 0.01; P = 0.5). FOUR RCTS REVEALED NO EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP IN IMPROVING THE SLEEP QUALITY FOR PERI/POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN USING PSQI (SMD = - 0.31; 95% CI = - 0.95 TO 0.33; P = 0.34). YOGA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS. DISCUSSION: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATED THAT YOGA INTERVENTION IN WOMEN CAN BE BENEFICIAL WHEN COMPARED TO NON-ACTIVE CONTROL CONDITIONS IN TERM OF MANAGING SLEEP PROBLEMS. THE MODERATOR ANALYSES SUGGEST THAT PARTICIPANTS IN THE NON-BREAST CANCER SUBGROUP AND PARTICIPANTS IN THE NON-PERI/POSTMENOPAUSAL SUBGROUP WERE ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER BENEFITS, WITH A DIRECT CORRELATION OF TOTAL CLASS TIME WITH QUALITY OF SLEEP AMONG OTHER RELATED BENEFITS. 2020 6 2634 75 YOGA FOR TREATING LOW BACK PAIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. ABSTRACT: YOGA IS FREQUENTLY USED FOR BACK PAIN RELIEF. HOWEVER, THE EVIDENCE WAS JUDGED TO BE OF ONLY LOW TO MODERATE CERTAINTY. TO ASSESS THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN, A META-ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED. THEREFORE, MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SEARCHED TO MAY 26, 2020. ONLY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS COMPARING YOGA WITH PASSIVE CONTROL (USUAL CARE OR WAIT LIST), OR AN ACTIVE COMPARATOR, FOR PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN AND THAT ASSESSED PAIN INTENSITY OR PAIN-RELATED DISABILITY AS A PRIMARY OUTCOME WERE CONSIDERED TO BE ELIGIBLE. TWO REVIEWERS INDEPENDENTLY EXTRACTED DATA ON STUDY CHARACTERISTICS, OUTCOME MEASURES, AND RESULTS AT SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL. THIRTY ARTICLES ON 27 INDIVIDUAL STUDIES (2702 PARTICIPANTS IN TOTAL) PROVED ELIGIBLE FOR REVIEW. COMPARED WITH PASSIVE CONTROL, YOGA WAS ASSOCIATED WITH SHORT-TERM IMPROVEMENTS IN PAIN INTENSITY (15 RCTS; MEAN DIFFERENCE [MD] = -0.74 POINTS ON A NUMERIC RATING SCALE; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = -1.04 TO -0.44; STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE [SMD] = -0.37 95% CI = -0.52 TO -0.22), PAIN-RELATED DISABILITY (15 RCTS; MD = -2.28; 95% CI = -3.30 TO -1.26; SMD = -0.38 95% CI = -0.55 TO -0.21), MENTAL HEALTH (7 RCTS; MD = 1.70; 95% CI = 0.20-3.20; SMD = 0.17 95% CI = 0.02-0.32), AND PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING (9 RCTS; MD = 2.80; 95% CI = 1.00-4.70; SMD = 0.28 95% CI = 0.10-0.47). EXCEPT FOR MENTAL HEALTH, ALL EFFECTS WERE SUSTAINED LONG-TERM. COMPARED WITH AN ACTIVE COMPARATOR, YOGA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN SHORT-TERM OR LONG-TERM OUTCOMES. 2022 7 923 67 EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVES. TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. METHODS. MEDLINE, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, AND PSYCINFO WERE SCREENED THROUGH APRIL 2012. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) WERE INCLUDED IF THEY ASSESSED THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON MAJOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS, NAMELY, (1) PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS, (2) SOMATIC SYMPTOMS, (3) VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS, AND/OR (4) UROGENITAL SYMPTOMS. FOR EACH OUTCOME, STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES (SMDS) AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CIS) WERE CALCULATED. TWO AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY ASSESSED RISK OF BIAS USING THE RISK OF BIAS TOOL RECOMMENDED BY THE COCHRANE BACK REVIEW GROUP. RESULTS. FIVE RCTS WITH 582 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED IN THE QUALITATIVE REVIEW, AND 4 RCTS WITH 545 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED IN THE META-ANALYSIS. THERE WAS MODERATE EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS (SMD = -0.37; 95% CI -0.67 TO -0.07; P = 0.02). NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR TOTAL MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS, SOMATIC SYMPTOMS, VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS, OR UROGENITAL SYMPTOMS. YOGA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS. CONCLUSION. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW FOUND MODERATE EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN MENOPAUSAL WOMEN. WHILE MORE RIGOROUS RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO UNDERPIN THESE RESULTS, YOGA CAN BE PRELIMINARILY RECOMMENDED AS AN ADDITIONAL INTERVENTION FOR WOMEN WHO SUFFER FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLAINTS ASSOCIATED WITH MENOPAUSE. 2012 8 2540 65 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 9 2543 109 YOGA FOR ASTHMA. BACKGROUND: ASTHMA IS A COMMON CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISORDER AFFECTING ABOUT 300 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE. AS A HOLISTIC THERAPY, YOGA HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RELIEVE BOTH THE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUFFERING OF PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA, AND ITS POPULARITY HAS EXPANDED GLOBALLY. A NUMBER OF CLINICAL TRIALS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE, WITH INCONSISTENT RESULTS. OBJECTIVES: TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA IN PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA. SEARCH METHODS: WE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED THE COCHRANE AIRWAYS GROUP REGISTER OF TRIALS, WHICH IS DERIVED FROM SYSTEMATIC SEARCHES OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES INCLUDING THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, AND PSYCINFO, AND HANDSEARCHING OF RESPIRATORY JOURNALS AND MEETING ABSTRACTS. WE ALSO SEARCHED PEDRO. WE SEARCHED CLINICALTRIALS.GOV AND THE WHO ICTRP SEARCH PORTAL. WE SEARCHED ALL DATABASES FROM THEIR INCEPTION TO 22 JULY 2015, AND USED NO RESTRICTION ON LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION. WE CHECKED THE REFERENCE LISTS OF ELIGIBLE STUDIES AND RELEVANT REVIEW ARTICLES FOR ADDITIONAL STUDIES. WE ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT INVESTIGATORS OF ELIGIBLE STUDIES AND EXPERTS IN THE FIELD TO LEARN OF OTHER PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED STUDIES. SELECTION CRITERIA: WE INCLUDED RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) THAT COMPARED YOGA WITH USUAL CARE (OR NO INTERVENTION) OR SHAM INTERVENTION IN PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA AND REPORTED AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES: QUALITY OF LIFE, ASTHMA SYMPTOM SCORE, ASTHMA CONTROL, LUNG FUNCTION MEASURES, ASTHMA MEDICATION USAGE, AND ADVERSE EVENTS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: WE EXTRACTED BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION, CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPANTS, CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERVENTIONS AND CONTROLS, CHARACTERISTICS OF METHODOLOGY, AND RESULTS FOR THE OUTCOMES OF OUR INTEREST FROM ELIGIBLE STUDIES. FOR CONTINUOUS OUTCOMES, WE USED MEAN DIFFERENCE (MD) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) TO DENOTE THE TREATMENT EFFECTS, IF THE OUTCOMES WERE MEASURED BY THE SAME SCALE ACROSS STUDIES. ALTERNATIVELY, IF THE OUTCOMES WERE MEASURED BY DIFFERENT SCALES ACROSS STUDIES, WE USED STANDARDISED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) WITH 95% CI. FOR DICHOTOMOUS OUTCOMES, WE USED RISK RATIO (RR) WITH 95% CI TO MEASURE THE TREATMENT EFFECTS. WE PERFORMED META-ANALYSIS WITH REVIEW MANAGER 5.3. WE USED THE FIXED-EFFECT MODEL TO POOL THE DATA, UNLESS THERE WAS SUBSTANTIAL HETEROGENEITY AMONG STUDIES, IN WHICH CASE WE USED THE RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL INSTEAD. FOR OUTCOMES INAPPROPRIATE OR IMPOSSIBLE TO POOL QUANTITATIVELY, WE CONDUCTED A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS AND SUMMARISED THE FINDINGS NARRATIVELY. MAIN RESULTS: WE INCLUDED 15 RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 1048 PARTICIPANTS. MOST OF THE TRIALS WERE CONDUCTED IN INDIA, FOLLOWED BY EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES. THE MAJORITY OF PARTICIPANTS WERE ADULTS OF BOTH SEXES WITH MILD TO MODERATE ASTHMA FOR SIX MONTHS TO MORE THAN 23 YEARS. FIVE STUDIES INCLUDED YOGA BREATHING ALONE, WHILE THE OTHER STUDIES ASSESSED YOGA INTERVENTIONS THAT INCLUDED BREATHING, POSTURE, AND MEDITATION. INTERVENTIONS LASTED FROM TWO WEEKS TO 54 MONTHS, FOR NO MORE THAN SIX MONTHS IN THE MAJORITY OF STUDIES. THE RISK OF BIAS WAS LOW ACROSS ALL DOMAINS IN ONE STUDY AND UNCLEAR OR HIGH IN AT LEAST ONE DOMAIN FOR THE REMAINDER.THERE WAS SOME EVIDENCE THAT YOGA MAY IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE (MD IN ASTHMA QUALITY OF LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE (AQLQ) SCORE PER ITEM 0.57 UNITS ON A 7-POINT SCALE, 95% CI 0.37 TO 0.77; 5 STUDIES; 375 PARTICIPANTS), IMPROVE SYMPTOMS (SMD 0.37, 95% CI 0.09 TO 0.65; 3 STUDIES; 243 PARTICIPANTS), AND REDUCE MEDICATION USAGE (RR 5.35, 95% CI 1.29 TO 22.11; 2 STUDIES) IN PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA. THE MD FOR AQLQ SCORE EXCEEDED THE MINIMAL CLINICALLY IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE (MCID) OF 0.5, BUT WHETHER THE MEAN CHANGES EXCEEDED THE MCID FOR ASTHMA SYMPTOMS IS UNCERTAIN DUE TO THE LACK OF AN ESTABLISHED MCID IN THE SEVERITY SCORES USED IN THE INCLUDED STUDIES. THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CHANGE FROM BASELINE FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN ONE SECOND (MD 0.04 LITRES, 95% CI -0.10 TO 0.19; 7 STUDIES; 340 PARTICIPANTS; I(2) = 68%) WERE NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. TWO STUDIES INDICATED IMPROVED ASTHMA CONTROL, BUT DUE TO VERY SIGNIFICANT HETEROGENEITY (I(2) = 98%) WE DID NOT POOL DATA. NO SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA WERE REPORTED, BUT THE DATA ON THIS OUTCOME WAS LIMITED. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: WE FOUND MODERATE-QUALITY EVIDENCE THAT YOGA PROBABLY LEADS TO SMALL IMPROVEMENTS IN QUALITY OF LIFE AND SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA. THERE IS MORE UNCERTAINTY ABOUT POTENTIAL ADVERSE EFFECTS OF YOGA AND ITS IMPACT ON LUNG FUNCTION AND MEDICATION USAGE. RCTS WITH A LARGE SAMPLE SIZE AND HIGH METHODOLOGICAL AND REPORTING QUALITY ARE NEEDED TO CONFIRM THE EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR ASTHMA. 2016 10 1299 68 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 11 2860 63 YOGA-BASED EXERCISE IMPROVES HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AND MENTAL WELL-BEING IN OLDER PEOPLE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQOL) AND MENTAL WELL-BEING ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTHY AGEING. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY POSITIVELY IMPACTS BOTH HRQOL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING. YOGA IS A PHYSICAL ACTIVITY THAT CAN BE MODIFIED TO SUITS THE NEEDS OF OLDER PEOPLE AND IS GROWING IN POPULARITY. WE CONDUCTED A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF YOGA-BASED EXERCISE ON HRQOL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING IN PEOPLE AGED 60+. METHODS: SEARCHES WERE CONDUCTED FOR RELEVANT TRIALS IN THE FOLLOWING ELECTRONIC DATABASES; MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, CINAHL, ALLIED AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE DATABASE, PSYCINFO AND THE PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE (PEDRO) FROM INCEPTION TO JANUARY 2017. TRIALS THAT EVALUATED THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL YOGA ON HRQOL AND/OR ON MENTAL WELL-BEING IN PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS WERE INCLUDED. DATA ON HRQOL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING WERE EXTRACTED. STANDARDISED MEAN DIFFERENCES AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE CALCULATED USING RANDOM EFFECTS MODELS. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF TRIALS WAS ASSESSED USING THE PEDRO SCALE. RESULTS: TWELVE TRIALS OF HIGH METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY (MEAN PEDRO SCORE 6.1), TOTALLING 752 PARTICIPANTS, WERE IDENTIFIED AND PROVIDED DATA FOR THE META-ANALYSIS. YOGA PRODUCED A MEDIUM EFFECT ON HRQOL (HEDGES' G = 0.51, 95% CI 0.25-0.76, 12 TRIALS) AND A SMALL EFFECT ON MENTAL WELL-BEING (HEDGES' G = 0.38, 95% CI 0.15-0.62, 12 TRIALS). CONCLUSION: YOGA INTERVENTIONS RESULTED IN SMALL TO MODERATE IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTH HRQOL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING IN PEOPLE AGED 60+ YEARS. FURTHER, RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMAL DOSE OF YOGA TO MAXIMISE HEALTH IMPACT. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: (CRD42016052458). 2018 12 232 52 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF YOGA FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. BACKGROUND: THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS IN TREATING PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. METHODS: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SCREENED THROUGH DECEMBER 2016. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA TO INACTIVE OR ACTIVE COMPARATORS IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER WERE ELIGIBLE. PRIMARY OUTCOMES INCLUDED REMISSION RATES AND SEVERITY OF DEPRESSION. ANXIETY AND ADVERSE EVENTS WERE SECONDARY OUTCOMES. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE TOOL. RESULTS: SEVEN RCTS WITH 240 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. RISK OF BIAS WAS UNCLEAR FOR MOST RCTS. COMPARED TO AEROBIC EXERCISE, NO SHORT- OR MEDIUM-TERM GROUP DIFFERENCES IN DEPRESSION SEVERITY WAS FOUND. HIGHER SHORT-TERM DEPRESSION SEVERITY WAS FOUND FOR YOGA COMPARED TO ELECTRO-CONVULSIVE THERAPY; REMISSION RATES DID NOT DIFFER BETWEEN GROUPS. NO SHORT-TERM GROUP DIFFERENCES OCCURRED WHEN YOGA WAS COMPARED TO ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION. CONFLICTING EVIDENCE WAS FOUND WHEN YOGA WAS COMPARED TO ATTENTION-CONTROL INTERVENTIONS, OR WHEN YOGA AS AN ADD-ON TO ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION WAS COMPARED TO MEDICATION ALONE. ONLY TWO RCTS ASSESSED ADVERSE EVENTS AND REPORTED THAT NO TREATMENT-RELATED ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED. LIMITATIONS: FEW RCTS WITH LOW SAMPLE SIZE. CONCLUSIONS: THIS REVIEW FOUND SOME EVIDENCE FOR POSITIVE EFFECTS BEYOND PLACEBO AND COMPARABLE EFFECTS COMPARED TO EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS. HOWEVER, METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND THE UNCLEAR RISK-BENEFIT RATIO PRECLUDE DEFINITIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OR AGAINST YOGA AS AN ADJUNCT TREATMENT FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. LARGER AND ADEQUATELY POWERED RCTS USING NON-INFERIORITY DESIGNS ARE NEEDED. 2017 13 1054 69 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CHRONIC NECK PAIN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA IN RELIEVING CHRONIC NECK PAIN. METHODS: PUBMED/MEDLINE, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, SCOPUS, AND INDMED WERE SCREENED THROUGH JANUARY 2017 FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS ASSESSING NECK PAIN INTENSITY AND/OR NECK PAIN-RELATED DISABILITY IN CHRONIC NECK PAIN PATIENTS. SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES INCLUDED QUALITY OF LIFE, MOOD, AND SAFETY. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE TOOL. RESULTS: THREE STUDIES ON 188 PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC NON-SPECIFIC NECK PAIN COMPARING YOGA TO USUAL CARE WERE INCLUDED. TWO STUDIES HAD OVERALL LOW RISK OF BIAS; AND ONE HAD HIGH OR UNCLEAR RISK OF BIAS FOR SEVERAL DOMAINS. EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS WAS FOUND FOR NECK PAIN INTENSITY (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) = -1.28; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) = -1.18, -0.75; P < 0.001), NECK PAIN-RELATED DISABILITY (SMD = -0.97; 95% CI = -1.44, -0.50; P < 0.001), QUALITY OF LIFE (SMD = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.17, 0.197; P = 0.005), AND MOOD (SMD = -1.02; 95% CI = -1.38, -0.65; P < 0.001). EFFECTS WERE ROBUST AGAINST POTENTIAL METHODOLOGICAL BIAS AND DID NOT DIFFER BETWEEN DIFFERENT INTERVENTION SUBGROUPS. IN THE TWO STUDIES THAT INCLUDED SAFETY DATA, NO SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS OCCURRED. CONCLUSION: YOGA HAS SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON CHRONIC NECK PAIN, ITS RELATED DISABILITY, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND MOOD SUGGESTING THAT YOGA MIGHT BE A GOOD TREATMENT OPTION. 2017 14 2829 89 YOGA VERSUS STANDARD CARE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS AN ANCIENT SPIRITUAL PRACTICE THAT ORIGINATED IN INDIA AND IS CURRENTLY ACCEPTED IN THE WESTERN WORLD AS A FORM OF RELAXATION AND EXERCISE. IT HAS BEEN OF INTEREST FOR PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA TO DETERMINE ITS EFFICACY AS AN ADJUNCT TO STANDARD-CARE TREATMENT. OBJECTIVES: TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA VERSUS STANDARD CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. SEARCH METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE COCHRANE SCHIZOPHRENIA GROUP TRIALS REGISTER (NOVEMBER 2012 AND JANUARY 29, 2015), WHICH IS BASED ON REGULAR SEARCHES OF MEDLINE, PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, BIOSIS, AMED, PSYCINFO, AND REGISTRIES OF CLINICAL TRIALS. WE SEARCHED THE REFERENCES OF ALL INCLUDED STUDIES. THERE WERE NO LANGUAGE, DATE, DOCUMENT TYPE, OR PUBLICATION STATUS LIMITATIONS FOR INCLUSION OF RECORDS IN THE REGISTER. SELECTION CRITERIA: ALL RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA COMPARING YOGA TO STANDARD-CARE CONTROL. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: THE REVIEW TEAM INDEPENDENTLY SELECTED STUDIES, QUALITY RATED THESE, AND EXTRACTED DATA. FOR BINARY OUTCOMES, WE CALCULATED RISK RATIO (RR) AND ITS 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI), ON AN INTENTION-TO-TREAT BASIS. FOR CONTINUOUS DATA, WE ESTIMATED THE MEAN DIFFERENCE (MD) BETWEEN GROUPS AND ITS 95% CI. WE EMPLOYED MIXED-EFFECT AND FIXED-EFFECT MODELS FOR ANALYSES. WE EXAMINED DATA FOR HETEROGENEITY (I(2) TECHNIQUE), ASSESSED RISK OF BIAS FOR INCLUDED STUDIES, AND CREATED 'SUMMARY OF FINDINGS' TABLES USING GRADE (GRADING OF RECOMMENDATIONS ASSESSMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION). MAIN RESULTS: WE INCLUDED EIGHT STUDIES IN THE REVIEW. ALL OUTCOMES WERE SHORT TERM (LESS THAN SIX MONTHS). THERE WERE CLEAR DIFFERENCES IN A NUMBER OF OUTCOMES IN FAVOUR OF THE YOGA GROUP, ALTHOUGH THESE WERE BASED ON ONE STUDY EACH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF LEAVING THE STUDY EARLY. THESE INCLUDED MENTAL STATE (IMPROVEMENT IN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SYNDROME SCALE, 1 RCT, N = 83, RR 0.70 CI 0.55 TO 0.88, MEDIUM-QUALITY EVIDENCE), SOCIAL FUNCTIONING (IMPROVEMENT IN SOCIAL OCCUPATIONAL FUNCTIONING SCALE, 1 RCT, N = 83, RR 0.88 CI 0.77 TO 1, MEDIUM-QUALITY EVIDENCE), QUALITY OF LIFE (AVERAGE CHANGE 36-ITEM SHORT FORM SURVEY (SF-36) QUALITY-OF-LIFE SUBSCALE, 1 RCT, N = 60, MD 15.50, 95% CI 4.27 TO 26.73, LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE), AND LEAVING THE STUDY EARLY (8 RCTS, N = 457, RR 0.91 CI 0.6 TO 1.37, MEDIUM-QUALITY EVIDENCE). FOR THE OUTCOME OF PHYSICAL HEALTH, THERE WAS NOT A CLEAR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUPS (AVERAGE CHANGE SF-36 PHYSICAL-HEALTH SUBSCALE, 1 RCT, N = 60, MD 6.60, 95% CI -2.44 TO 15.64, LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE). ONLY ONE STUDY REPORTED ADVERSE EFFECTS, FINDING NO INCIDENCE OF ADVERSE EVENTS IN EITHER TREATMENT GROUP. THIS REVIEW WAS SUBJECT TO A CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF MISSING OUTCOMES, WHICH INCLUDED GLOBAL STATE, CHANGE IN COGNITION, COSTS OF CARE, EFFECT ON STANDARD CARE, SERVICE INTERVENTION, DISABILITY, AND ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: EVEN THOUGH WE FOUND SOME POSITIVE EVIDENCE IN FAVOUR OF YOGA OVER STANDARD-CARE CONTROL, THIS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED CAUTIOUSLY IN VIEW OF OUTCOMES LARGELY BASED EACH ON ONE STUDY WITH LIMITED SAMPLE SIZES AND SHORT-TERM FOLLOW-UP. OVERALL, MANY OUTCOMES WERE NOT REPORTED AND EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN THIS REVIEW IS OF LOW TO MODERATE QUALITY - -TOO WEAK TO INDICATE THAT YOGA IS SUPERIOR TO STANDARD-CARE CONTROL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA. 2015 15 2597 73 YOGA FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. WHILE YOGA SEEMS TO BE EFFECTIVE IN A NUMBER OF NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS, THE EVIDENCE OF EFFICACY IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS REMAINS UNCLEAR. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND META-ANALYZE THE AVAILABLE DATA ON EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, PSYCINFO, CAM-QUEST, CAMBASE, AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED THROUGH MARCH 2014. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF YOGA FOR PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS WERE INCLUDED IF THEY ASSESSED HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, FATIGUE, AND/OR MOBILITY. MOOD, COGNITIVE FUNCTION, AND SAFETY WERE DEFINED AS SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE TOOL. SEVEN RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 670 PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED. EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED TO USUAL CARE WERE FOUND FOR FATIGUE (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE [SMD] = -0.52; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) = -1.02 TO -0.02; P = 0.04; HETEROGENEITY: I2 = 60%; CHI2 = 7.43; P = 0.06) AND MOOD (SMD = -0.55; 95%CI = -0.96 TO -0.13; P = 0.01; HETEROGENEITY: I2 = 0%; CHI2 = 1.25; P = 0.53), BUT NOT FOR HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, MUSCLE FUNCTION, OR COGNITIVE FUNCTION. THE EFFECTS ON FATIGUE AND MOOD WERE NOT ROBUST AGAINST BIAS. NO SHORT-TERM OR LONGER TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA COMPARED TO EXERCISE WERE FOUND. YOGA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS. IN CONCLUSION, SINCE NO METHODOLOGICAL SOUND EVIDENCE WAS FOUND, NO RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE REGARDING YOGA AS A ROUTINE INTERVENTION FOR PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. YOGA MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A TREATMENT OPTION FOR PATIENTS WHO ARE NOT ADHERENT TO RECOMMENDED EXERCISE REGIMENS. 2014 16 222 73 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF YOGA FOR LOW BACK PAIN. OBJECTIVES: TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR LOW BACK PAIN. METHODS: MEDLINE, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, EMBASE, CAMBASE, AND PSYCINFO, WERE SCREENED THROUGH JANUARY 2012. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS COMPARING YOGA TO CONTROL CONDITIONS IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN WERE INCLUDED. TWO AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY ASSESSED RISK OF BIAS USING THE RISK OF BIAS TOOL RECOMMENDED BY THE COCHRANE BACK REVIEW GROUP. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES WERE PAIN, BACK-SPECIFIC DISABILITY, GENERIC DISABILITY, HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, AND GLOBAL IMPROVEMENT. FOR EACH OUTCOME, STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES (SMD) AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE CALCULATED. RESULTS: TEN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH A TOTAL OF 967 CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED. EIGHT STUDIES HAD LOW RISK OF BIAS. THERE WAS STRONG EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON PAIN (SMD=-0.48; 95% CI, -0.65 TO -0.31; P<0.01), BACK-SPECIFIC DISABILITY (SMD=-0.59; 95% CI, -0.87 TO -0.30; P<0.01), AND GLOBAL IMPROVEMENT (RISK RATIO=3.27; 95% CI, 1.89-5.66; P<0.01). THERE WAS STRONG EVIDENCE FOR A LONG-TERM EFFECT ON PAIN (SMD=-0.33; 95% CI, -0.59 TO -0.07; P=0.01) AND MODERATE EVIDENCE FOR A LONG-TERM EFFECT ON BACK-SPECIFIC DISABILITY (SMD=-0.35; 95% CI, -0.55 TO -0.15; P<0.01). THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE FOR EITHER SHORT-TERM OR LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE. YOGA WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS. DISCUSSION: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW FOUND STRONG EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTIVENESS AND MODERATE EVIDENCE FOR LONG-TERM EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN IN THE MOST IMPORTANT PATIENT-CENTERED OUTCOMES. YOGA CAN BE RECOMMENDED AS AN ADDITIONAL THERAPY TO CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN PATIENTS. 2013 17 2330 52 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 18 2606 58 YOGA FOR POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER - A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS INCREASINGLY USED AS A THERAPEUTIC TREATMENT AND SEEMS TO IMPROVE PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS SUCH AS ANXIETY DISORDERS AND DEPRESSION. THE AIM OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WAS TO ASSESS THE EVIDENCE OF YOGA FOR REDUCING SYMPTOMS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD). METHODS: THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, MEDLINE/PUBMED, PSYCINFO, SCOPUS, AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED THROUGH JULY 2017 FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SYMPTOMS OF PTSD. MEAN DIFFERENCES (MD) AND STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES (SMD) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE COMPUTED. THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF RECOMMENDATION WERE GRADED ACCORDING TO THE GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS. RESULTS: SEVEN RCTS (N = 284) WERE INCLUDED. META-ANALYSIS REVEALED LOW QUALITY EVIDENCE FOR CLINICALLY RELEVANT EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PTSD SYMPTOMS COMPARED TO NO TREATMENT (SMD = - 1.10, 95% CI [- 1.72, - 0.47], P < .001, I(2) = 72%; MD = - 13.11, 95% CI [- 17.95, - 8.27]); AND VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR COMPARABLE EFFECTS OF YOGA AND ATTENTION CONTROL INTERVENTIONS (SMD = - 0.31, 95%CI = [- 0.84, 0.22], P = .25; I(2) = 43%). VERY LOW EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR COMPARABLE RETENTION OF PATIENTS IN THE TRIAL FOR YOGA AND NO TREATMENT (OR = 0.68, 95%CI [0.06, 7.72]) OR ATTENTION CONTROL INTERVENTIONS (OR = 0.66, 95%CI [0.10, 4.46]). NO SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED. LIMITATIONS: FEW RCTS WITH ONLY LIMITED SAMPLE SIZE WERE AVAILABLE. CONCLUSIONS: ONLY A WEAK RECOMMENDATION FOR YOGA AS AN ADJUNCTIVE INTERVENTION FOR PTSD CAN BE MADE. MORE HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO CONFIRM OR DISCONFIRM THESE FINDINGS. 2018 19 2546 71 YOGA FOR BREAST CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: MANY BREAST CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS USE YOGA TO COPE WITH THEIR DISEASE. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND META-ANALYZE THE EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS OF YOGA ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS AND SURVIVORS. METHODS: MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, EMBASE, CAMBASE, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SCREENED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2012. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA TO CONTROLS WERE ANALYZED WHEN THEY ASSESSED HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE OR PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS OR SURVIVORS. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL. STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCES (SMD) AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE CALCULATED. RESULTS: TWELVE RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 742 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. SEVEN RCTS COMPARED YOGA TO NO TREATMENT; 3 RCTS COMPARED YOGA TO SUPPORTIVE THERAPY; 1 RCT COMPARED YOGA TO HEALTH EDUCATION; AND 1 RCT COMPARED A COMBINATION OF PHYSIOTHERAPY AND YOGA TO PHYSIOTHERAPY ALONE. EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON GLOBAL HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (SMD = 0.62 [95% CI: 0.04 TO 1.21]; P = 0.04), FUNCTIONAL (SMD = 0.30 [95% CI: 0.03 TO 0.57), SOCIAL (SMD = 0.29 [95% CI: 0.08 TO 0.50]; P < 0.01), AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING (SMD = 0.41 [95% CI: 0.08; 0.74]; P = 0.01). THESE EFFECTS WERE, HOWEVER, ONLY PRESENT IN STUDIES WITH UNCLEAR OR HIGH RISK OF SELECTION BIAS. SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH ALSO WERE FOUND: ANXIETY (SMD = -1.51 [95% CI: -2.47; -0.55]; P < 0.01), DEPRESSION (SMD = -1.59 [95% CI: -2.68 TO -0.51]; P < 0.01), PERCEIVED STRESS (SMD = -1.14 [95% CI:-2.16; -0.12]; P = 0.03), AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS (SMD = -0.86 [95% CI:-1.50; -0.22]; P < 0.01). SUBGROUP ANALYSES REVEALED EVIDENCE OF EFFICACY ONLY FOR YOGA DURING ACTIVE CANCER TREATMENT BUT NOT AFTER COMPLETION OF ACTIVE TREATMENT. CONCLUSIONS: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW FOUND EVIDENCE FOR SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA IN IMPROVING PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS. THE SHORT-TERM EFFECTS ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE COULD NOT BE CLEARLY DISTINGUISHED FROM BIAS. YOGA CAN BE RECOMMENDED AS AN INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH DURING BREAST CANCER TREATMENT. 2012 20 2165 76 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