Effect of a 10-week yoga programme on the quality of life of women after breast cancer surgery

Abstract

Aim of the studyThe following research is aimed at determining the effect of yoga on the quality of life of women after breast cancer surgery.Material and methodsA 10-week yoga programme included 90-minute yoga lessons once a week. To estimate the quality of life, questionnaires developed by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23) were used. An experimental group consisted of 12 women who practised yoga, a control group – of 16 women who did not. Between groups there were no differences in age, time from operation and characteristics associated with disease, treatment and participation in rehabilitation.ResultsOur results revealed an improvement of general health and quality of life, physical and social functioning as well as a reduction of difficulties in daily activities among exercising women. Also their future prospects enhanced – they worried less about their health than they used to before participating in the programme. As compared to baseline, among exercising women, fatigue, dyspnoea and discomfort (pain, swelling, sensitivity) in the arm and breast on the operated side decreased.ConclusionsParticipation in the exercising programme resulted in an improvement of physical functioning, reduction of fatigue, dyspnoea, and discomfort in the area of the breast and arm on the operated side. Based on our results and those obtained in foreign studies, we conclude that rehabilitation with the use of yoga practice improves the quality of life of the patients after breast cancer surgery. However, we recommend further research on this issue in Poland.

The Effect of Yoga Interventions on Cancer-Related Fatigue and Quality of Life for Women with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Following the removal of duplicates (n = 912), 1556 citations were initially screened, and 105 full-text studies were assessed for eligibility. From the full text screening, 80 studies were excluded and 24 were included 22 , 38 - 58 (see Supplemental Table 2 for exclusion reasons). Authors were contacted twice by email to obtain any missing data.…”

“…The intensity level of the yoga intervention was not clearly defined within the included studies; however, 14 studies described the yoga programs as gentle, low, or modified to participants’ abilities (see Table 1 for study descriptions). Hatha was the most common form of yoga intervention assessed (n = 16) 22 , 39 , 40 , 43 , 45 - 48 , 50 , 53 - 59 ; additionally, Vivekanada Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (VYASA) (n = 2), 41 , 42 Satyanada (n = 1), 49 Baba Joga (n = 1) 38 and general or unspecified (n = 4) 44 , 51 , 52 , 59 interventions were evaluated. Yoga interventions were supervised in most of the studies, only 2 studies 53 , 57 used non-supervised interventions.…”

Managing Lymphedema, Increasing Range of Motion, and Quality of Life through Yoga Therapy among Breast Cancer Survivors

“…The risk of bias assessed by NIH quality assessment tool is summarized in Table 2 . Five studies had moderate quality,[ 20 25 26 27 28 ] one study found to have good quality[ 29 ] and one study was in low quality. [ 30 ]…”

Effectiveness of yoga on quality of life of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: A randomized clinical controlled study

“…The findings were supported by Andysz et al . [ 3 ] Their results revealed that the experimental group who practiced yoga displayed a statistically significant increase ( P = 0.048) in the general health status and QOL scores in comparison to the control group. Shahriari et al .…”