Yoga to prevent mobility limitations in older adults: feasibility of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundThe loss of mobility during aging impacts independence and leads to further disability, morbidity, and reduced life expectancy. Our objective was to examine the feasibility and safety of conducting a randomized controlled trial of yoga for older adults at risk for mobility limitations.MethodsSedentary older adults (n = 46; age 60–89) were recruited and randomized to either yoga or a health education comparison group. Yoga sessions (60-min) occurred 2x weekly, and 90-min health education sessions occurred weekly, for 10 weeks. The primary outcomes were recruitment rate, intervention attendance, and retention at assessments. Adverse event rates and participant satisfaction were also measured. Physical performance measures of gait, balance, and strength and self-report outcome measures were administered at baseline and 10-weeks.ResultsRecruitment lasted 6 months. Retention of participants at the 10-week follow-up was high (89% - performance measures; 98% - self-report questionnaires). Attendance was good with 82% of yoga and 74% of health education participants attending at least 50% of the sessions. No serious adverse events were reported. Patient satisfaction with the interventions was high. The mean effect size for the physical performance measures was 0.35 with some over 0.50. The mean effect size for self-report outcome measures was 0.36.ConclusionsResults indicate that it is feasible to conduct a larger RCT of yoga for sedentary older adults at risk for mobility problems. The yoga and comparison interventions were safe, well accepted, and well attended. Effect sizes suggest yoga may have important benefits for this population and should be studied further.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials # NCT03544879; Retrospectively registered 4 June, 2018.

Effects of Mind–Body Interventions Involving Meditative Movements on Quality of Life, Depressive Symptoms, Fear of Falling and Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

“…In total, 3224 participants aged 59 years and above (72.2 ± 7.3) were involved in the included 37 randomized controlled trials [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 ] ( Table S1 ). The mean sample size was 93 ± 56.7 subjects ranging from 17 [ 74 ] to 269 [ 60 ].…”

“…Mainly, the Tai Chi Yang style (24 forms or 10 simplified forms) was applied. Yoga was performed in 10 studies [ 49 , 50 , 64 , 65 , 67 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 74 , 77 ], whereas Qigong appeared in five study arms [ 70 , 73 , 79 , 81 ], Pilates three times [ 45 , 46 , 48 ] and Tai Chi Qigong only twice [ 68 , 76 ]. Each mind–body intervention was an isolated treatment given to the intervention group, except for one study that combined Tai Chi with cognitive behavioral strategies [ 55 ].…”

“…The attendance rates for the experimental groups, where indicated, varied from 61% [ 47 ] to 96% [ 65 ]. The following non-exercise control groups were used by the included trials: no treatment/normal lifestyle/activities of daily living [ 48 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 57 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 69 , 72 , 75 , 76 , 78 , 79 , 80 ], wait-list [ 47 , 58 , 67 , 70 , 71 , 77 , 81 ], usual/standard care [ 53 , 54 , 60 , 68 ], health education [ 50 , 56 , 59 , 61 ], series of guidelines [ 45 , 46 ], monthly lunch/seminars [ 49 ], telephone calls [ 65 ], newspaper reading group [ 73 ], socialization group [ 74 ]. More detailed information is shown in Table S1 .…”

Yoga Practice Improves Physical Fitness and Psychomotor Coordination in Older Adults

“…Growing evidence suggests that yoga as an alternative and complementary therapy can also increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior (Lau et al, 2015). In addition to the beneficial yoga effects on flexibility and strength (Gothe, McAuley, 2016;Groessl et al, 2018), some yoga postures (asanas) may achieve the recommended level of intensity for endurance improvement (Hagins et al, 2007). Nevertheless, there is evidence that yoga can improve cardiovascular en-durance (Lau et al, 2015), however, to the best of our knowledge, no information is available regarding population aged 60 years and older.…”

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].…”