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

Abstract

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 . Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-019-07...

Does yoga reduce the risk of falls in older people?

“…Two systematic reviews have evaluated the impact of yoga on fall risk factors. They find small to moderate improvements with yoga in balance, mobility,1016 and lower limb strength10 compared with controls. Wide confidence intervals in most of the comparisons limit the robustness of these results.…”

“…Yoga is a mind-body practice that typically involves a combination of physical postures, breathing exercises, and concentration/meditation. Yoga has become a popular means of promoting physical and mental wellbeing9 and is shown to improve health related quality of life in older people 10. Evidence from observational studies suggests it is an acceptable and attractive form of exercise among older people 111213.…”

Effect of Yoga versus Light Exercise to Improve Well-Being and Promote Healthy Aging among Older Adults in Central India: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Several studies conducted across the globe have demonstrated the positive effects of yoga on the number of health outcomes that concerns elderly such as improvements in depression and anxiety [13,[23][24][25][26][27], mood and stress [25,28], pain reduction [29,30], enhanced sleep quality [13,25,26,30,31], balance resulting in fall prevention [23,27,32,33] cognition [31,34] and cardio metabolic health [17,28,30,35]. Studies have also reported improvement in the subjective well-being [36,37].…”

Effects of hatha yoga on self-reported health outcomes in a randomized controlled trial of patients with obstructive pulmonary disorders

“…Assumed positive effects of YE include improved health and wellbeing and thus YE are often recommended for mental health problems. Aligning with assumptions, a review synthesizing systematic reviews of chronic disease management demonstrates that yoga seems most effective for reducing symptoms of anxiety (Cramer, Lauche, Klose, & Dobos, 2017;Hofmann, Andreoli, & Curtiss, 2016), have small to moderate effects on depression, (Cramer et al, 2017;Sivaramakrishnan et al, 2019) and reduce pain (Cramer et al, 2017). Moreover, research has suggested that YE as an add-on intervention module decreases depressive disorders (Cramer, Lauche, Langhorst, & Dobos, 2013), and stress (Zou et al, 2018).…”