Effects of Yoga on Psychological Health, Quality of Life, and Physical Health of Patients with Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Table 2

Characteristic of included studies.

Author, year	No. of participants	Age, mean  ±  SD	Yoga type	Frequency	Duration, week	Outcome measures	Results
Danhauer et al., 2009 [17]	44	55.8 ± 9.9	Restorative yoga: asanas (postures done with awareness), pranayama (voluntarily regulated nostril breathing), and savasana (deep relaxation)	75 min weekly	10	QOL (SF-12 and FACT_B), fatigue (FACT-Fatigue), depression (CES-D), positive and negative affect (PANAS), and spirituality (FACIT-Sp), sleep quality (PSQI)	Group differences favoring yoga group in mental health, depression, positive affect, and spirituality. Significant baseline*group interactions in negative affect and emotional well-being.
Raghavendra et al., 2009 [18]	88	46.0 ± 9.1	Integrated yoga: asanas, pranayama, meditation, and yogic relaxation	1 hr, 3 sessions weekly	6	Anxiety and depression (HADS),  level of stress (PSS)	Significant between group differences on anxiety (𝑃<.001), depression (𝑃=.002), perceived stress (𝑃<.001), salivary cortisol (𝑃=.009), and pooled mean cortisol (𝑃=.03). significant positive correlation between morning salivary cortisol level and anxiety and depression
Rao et al., 2009 [19]	98	NA	Integrated yoga: asanas, pranayama, meditation, and yogic relaxation	60 min daily	24	Anxiety (STAI)	Overall decrease in both self-reported state anxiety (𝑃<.001) and trait anxiety (𝑃=.005)
Lengacher et al., 2009 [20]	84	57.5 ± 9.4	MBSR: gentle yoga	2 hr weekly	6	Fear of recurrence (Concerns about Recurrence Scale, anxiety (STAI), depressive symptoms (CES-D), optimism (Life Orientation Test), perceived stress (PSS), QOL (SF), social support (MOSS), spirituality	Significant between group differences on levels of depression, anxiety, fear of recurrence, energy, physical functioning, and physical role functioning (two-sided 𝑃<.05)
Banerjee et al., 2007 [21]	68	44.0 ± 1.4	Integrated yoga: asanas, pranayama, nidra (guided relaxation with imagery)	90 min weekly	6	Anxiety and depression (HADS), level of stress (PSS), DNA damage	Significant between group differences on HADS score, mean PSS, and DNA damage (𝑃<.001)
Moadel et al., 2007 [22]	128	54.8 ± 9.9	Hatha yoga: physical stretches, breathing, and meditation	1.5 hr weekly	12	QOL (FACT-G), spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp), fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue), distress (Distressed Mood Index)	Significant between group differences on social well-being (𝑃<.0001). For patients not receiving CT during intervention, significant between group differences on overall QOL, emotional well-being, social well-being, spiritual well-being, and distress mood
Culos-reed et al., 2006 [23]	38	51.1 ± 10.3	Yoga: asanas, shevasana (relaxation)	75 min	7	Anxiety and depression (POMS), QOL (EORTC QLQ-C30), symptom of stress (SOSI), physical activity (LSI), fitness (grip strength, flexibility, and Rockport Walking Test)	Significant differences between groups at post-intervention in global QOL, emotional function, diarrhea, and tension (𝑃<.05).
Monti et al., 2006 [24]	111	53.6 ± 11.5	MBAT: gentle yoga	2.5 hr weekly	8	Psychological distress and stress-related somatic complaints (SCL-90-R), Health-related QOL (SF-36)	Significant between group differences on symptoms of distress (𝑃<.001), mental composite of SF-36 (𝑃=.025), general health (𝑃=.008), mental health (𝑃<.001), social functioning (𝑃=.048), and vitality (𝑃=.01)
Cohen et al., 2004 [25]	39	51	Tibetan yoga: controlled breathing, mindfulness, postures from Tsa lung (channels and vital breath), Trul khor (magical wheel)	weekly	7	Distress (IES), anxiety (STATE), depression (CES-D), fatigue (BFI), sleep disturbances (PSQI)	Significant between group differences on sleep disturbance scores (𝑃<.004), sleep quality (𝑃<.02), sleep latency (𝑃<.01), sleep duration (𝑃<.03), use of sleep medications (𝑃<.02). no significant differences between groups in terms of intrusion, state anxiety, depression, or fatigue
Speca et al., 2000 [26]	90	51	MBSR: gentle yoga	90 min weekly	7	Anxiety and depression (POMS), stress-related symptoms (SOSI)	Significant between group differences on total mood disturbance, subscales of depression, anxiety, anger, confusion, vigor, and symptoms of stress.

Abbreviations: QOL: quality of life; HADS: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; PSS: Perceived Stress Scale; STAI: state trait anxiety inventory; SF-12: The 12-Item Short Form Health Survey; FACT-B: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast; FACT-Fatigue: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue; FACIT-Sp: Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spirituality; CES-D: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; PSQI: Pittsburgh sleep quality inventory; PANSA: positive and negative affect schedule; FACT-G: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General; FACIT-Fatigue: Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue; POMS: profile of mood states; SOSI: symptoms of stress inventory; EORTC QLQ-C30: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Version 3.0; LSI: The Leisure Score Index; IES: Impact of Events Scale; STATE: Speilberger State Anxiety Inventory; BFI: Brief Fatigue Inventory; NA: not available; MBSR: mindfulness-based stress reduction; SF: Medical Outcomes Studies Short-Form General Health Survey; MOSS: Medical Outcomes Social Support Survey; MBAT: mindfulness-based art therapy; SCL-90-R: Symptoms Checklist Revised; SF-36: Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey; CT: chemotherapy; min: minute; hr: hour.