Effectiveness of Yoga for Hypertension: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Table 2

Results of subgroup analyses: effect sizes, number of trials, and number of participants per subgroup.

Subgroup category	Number of trials	Number of participants	Effect size (confidence interval), mmHg
			Systolic	Diastolic
Type of yoga intervention*
(1) P, M, B	11	431	−8.17(−12.75,−3.89)	−6.14(−9.39,−2.89)
(2) 2 or less of PMB	8	403	0.19(−1.70,2.07)	0.38(−1.55,2.32)
(3) (±P ± M ± B) + other intervention	3	109	−11.87(−26.43,2.70)	−7.35(−16.20,1.50)
Type of comparison group*
(1) No intervention or usual care	13	656	−7.96(−10.65,−5.27)	−5.52(−7.92,−3.11)
(2) Exercise or exercise + additional intervention	3	97	2.87(1.42,4.31)	−0.30(−1.47,0.87)
(3) Non-exercise intervention	6	190	1.14(−3.37,5.66)	−0.35(−3.56,2.86)
Length of yoga intervention
(1) ≤ mean (58.9 hours)	16	728	−3.11(−5.49,−0.73)	−2.55(−2.95,2.15)
(2) > mean (58.9 hours)	6	215	−9.73(−17.66,−1.79)	−1.83(3.59,−0.07)

Types of yoga intervention: P: postures; B: breathing; M: meditation; 1 = P + M + B, 2 = any 2 of these or less; 3: (±P ± M ± B) + Other intervention.
Length of yoga intervention: 16 trials (12 studies) were categorized as being of short duration as they fell below the mean value across all studies of 58.9 hours; 6 trials (5 studies) were categorized as being of long duration.
∗Significant effect of subgroup differences, P < 0.001.