Yoga as an Adjunct Treatment to Manage Pain, Anxiety, Depression, and Stress During Hospital

Pain, anxiety, depression, and stress are frequently reported symptoms by patients during their hospital stay. Yoga has been shown to decrease these symptoms in a myriad of settings but it is unclear if yoga can be implemented during hospital setting and if yoga has positive effects on patients’ symptoms. This systematic review aimed to examine feasibility and the impact of yoga on pain, anxiety, depression, and stress on patients during their hospital stay with a variety of conditions.

Design: Systematic Review

Setting: During patients hospital stay

Participants: Any participant who has completed a yoga intervention during the hospital stay. Exclusion of psychiatric hospital setting.

Interventions: Yoga intervention which varied by type of yoga, length of yoga, individual vs group sessions, etc.

Main Outcome Measures: Pain

Results: A total of thirteen studies met the criteria and were included in this review. Three randomized controlled trials, one non-randomized comparative trial, and nine non-comparative trials were included. The studies included a wide array of patient ages and diagnoses. Four out of five studies reported a statistically significant reduction in pain as their primary outcome. Of the eight studies reporting on anxiety, six reported statistically significant decrease while two reported nonsignificant decrease in anxiety level. Four studies investigated depression, and all four reported a statistically significant decrease in depression. Of the three studies reporting on stress, all three reported a decrease, although only one study found a significant reduction in stress. Five studies reported on the feasibility of performing yoga in the hospital setting without any negative effects or increase in symptoms.

Conclusions: There are limited studies where yoga was integrated during the hospital stay to address pain and psychological symptoms. Although limited, the current evidence suggests that it is feasible to implement yoga intervention during hospitalization period, and yoga seems to have promising benefits. The results should be viewed with caution given lack of randomized trials, low methodological quality, and small sample sizes in the included studies. Further studies are needed to build on this evidence.

Author(s) Disclosures: There are no conflicts to report