An Online Program of Seated Gentle Yoga & Yogic Breathing Improves Symptoms in Scleroderma: A Quality Improvement Study

Abstract

Importance Dry mouth is a common symptom experienced by scleroderma patients. Gentle yoga & yogic breathing improves salivation and other symptoms through parasympathetic dominance and may help scleroderma patients. Objective To conduct a pilot, feasibility study of an online Gentle Yoga and Yogic Breathing (GYYB) intervention for scleroderma patients during COVID-19 pandemic. Design, Setting, and participants A 60-minute GYYB exercise session was designed with consideration for the limitations of the scleroderma population and advertised in online communities. There were 99 participants registered over a seven week period. The sessions were led by certified Yoga Therapist weekly on Saturdays from 11 AM to 12 PM eastern time for seven weeks during COVID-19 pandemic (from 4/4/2020 to 5/16/2020) via the Zoom online teleconferencing tool. After each session participants had the opportunity to voluntarily complete feedback questionnaires about the session using Google Forms® designed for this purpose. Results Of 99 people that attended the sessions, 45 participants responded to the questionnaires. Over half (57.8%) respondents stated they would “Definitely” return to another session and participant satisfaction with the intervention was high (mean [SD] score 9.1 (1.3) on a scale of 1 [“Didn’t Like It at All”] to 10 [“Loved It”]). The majority reported liking both the yoga and breathing activities (75.6%) and 22.2% preferred the breathing activities. The majority (75.6%) found participation using computer or mobile phone “Very Easy”, with one participant reporting that it was “Very Difficult”. Most participants found doing yoga once daily (61.4%) for 30 minutes (56.6%) was most feasible. After one session, the majority (64.3%) reported they “Felt Better”, and no adverse effects were reported by any participant during the study. Conclusion and Relevance These data provide the first published evidence that an online yoga intervention may help address the need for low-cost, effective, non-pharmacological interventions to help people with scleroderma manage secondary symptoms and potentially improve their QoL.