Self-regulation evaluation of therapeutic yoga and walking for patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a pilot study

Abstract

With limited efficacy of medications for symptom relief, non-medication treatments may play an important role in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the most common functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of two self-regulation strategies for symptom relief and mood management in IBS patients. Thirty-five adult participants meeting ROME III criteria for IBS were enrolled, 27 of the 35 participants (77%) completed treatment and pre- and post-treatment visits (89% women, 11% men; M (SD) age = 36 (13)), and 20 of the 27 (74%) completed a 6-month follow-up. Participants were randomly assigned to 16 biweekly group sessions of Iyengar yoga or a walking program. Results indicated a significant group by time interaction on negative affect with the walking treatment showing improvement from pre- to post-treatment when compared to yoga (p < .05). There was no significant group by time effect on IBS severity. Exploratory analyses of secondary outcomes examined change separately for each treatment condition. From pre- to post-treatment, yoga showed significant decreases in IBS severity measures (p < .05), visceral sensitivity (p < .05), and severity of somatic symptoms (p < .05). Walking showed significant decreases in overall GI symptoms (p < .05), negative affect (p < .05), and state anxiety (p < .05). At 6-month follow-up, overall GI symptoms for walking continued to significantly decline, while for yoga, GI symptoms rebounded toward baseline levels (p < .05). When asked about self-regulated home practice at 6 months, significantly more participants in walking than in yoga practiced at least weekly (p < .05). In sum, results suggest that yoga and walking as movement-based self-regulatory behavioral treatments have some differential effects but are both beneficial for IBS patients, though maintenance of a self-regulated walking program may be more feasible and therefore more effective long term.

Cardiovascular phenotyping for personalized lifestyle treatments of chronic abdominal pain in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A randomized pilot study

“…Of the 27 participants who completed treatment, 20 completed 6‐month follow‐up questionnaires assessing IBS severity (Figure ). Of these, 12 (60%) were from the yoga condition and 8 (40%) from the walking condition . No adverse events of the treatment procedures were reported.…”

“…Participants were also encouraged to practice select postures at home between sessions. Details of the treatment procedures have been published elsewhere …”

“…While attractive, physical exercise interventions as an alternative form of pain management may only be effective in subgroups of patients. For example, we have recently reported that physical exercise (eg, walking and yoga) may provide modest improvement in visceral pain and other negative symptoms in patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), but also show variability in outcome . As such, markers useful for predicting outcomes from pain management interventions are a significant area of interest .…”

Exercise therapy of patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

“…Of the 14 studies examined, six evaluated the effects of yoga and included a total of 264 participants . The yoga interventions included Hatha yoga, conventional yoga, and Iyengar yoga, and the interventions lasted for 4‐12 weeks.…”

Yoga research review

“…The yoga group had a significant reduction in bowel syndrome symptoms including pain, constipation and nausea and the symptom reduction was maintained at the two month follow-up assessment. In a comparison between 16-biweekly sessions of Iyengar yoga and walking, positive effects were noted for both groups [110]. Irritable bowel syndrome severity symptoms decreased for the yoga group, while overall G.I.…”