TY - JOUR
T1 - Yoga for depression and anxiety symptoms in people with cancer
T2 - A systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Gonzalez, Maria
AU - Pascoe, Michaela C.
AU - Yang, Guoyan
AU - de Manincor, Michael
AU - Grant, Suzanne
AU - Lacey, Judith
AU - Firth, Joseph
AU - Sarris, Jerome
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Objective: Cancer and its treatment can lead to a variety of physical and emotional concerns impacting on those affected, including subclinical or clinical depression and anxiety, which in turn have a significant impact on wellbeing, quality of life and survival. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effect of yoga-based interventions on self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms in people with cancer in randomized controlled trials. Method: Six databases were searched to identify relevant studies. Systematic review procedures were followed including a quality assessment. Meta-analysis of suitable studies was conducted. Results: 26 studies from our search criteria were eligible for inclusion for depressive and 16 for anxiety symptoms. Meta-analyses revealed evidence for significant medium effects of yoga on depression symptoms (N = 1,486, g = −0.419, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.558 to −0.281, p < 0.001) and anxiety (N = 977, g = −0.347, 95% CI = −0.473 to −0.221, p < 0.001) compared to controls. Subgroup analyses for depressive symptoms revealed significant effects for all analyses performed (type of cancer, type of control, treatment status, duration of intervention or frequency of yoga sessions), with effect sizes being comparable between subgroups. Similar findings were found for anxiety symptoms except for treatment status, where the only significant effect was found when yoga was delivered during active treatment. Conclusions: This review provides evidence that in people with cancer, yoga-based interventions are associated with amelioration of depression and anxiety symptoms and therefore a promising therapeutic modality for their management. However, the potential for risk of bias together with control group design challenges means the results should be interpreted with caution.
AB - Objective: Cancer and its treatment can lead to a variety of physical and emotional concerns impacting on those affected, including subclinical or clinical depression and anxiety, which in turn have a significant impact on wellbeing, quality of life and survival. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effect of yoga-based interventions on self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms in people with cancer in randomized controlled trials. Method: Six databases were searched to identify relevant studies. Systematic review procedures were followed including a quality assessment. Meta-analysis of suitable studies was conducted. Results: 26 studies from our search criteria were eligible for inclusion for depressive and 16 for anxiety symptoms. Meta-analyses revealed evidence for significant medium effects of yoga on depression symptoms (N = 1,486, g = −0.419, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.558 to −0.281, p < 0.001) and anxiety (N = 977, g = −0.347, 95% CI = −0.473 to −0.221, p < 0.001) compared to controls. Subgroup analyses for depressive symptoms revealed significant effects for all analyses performed (type of cancer, type of control, treatment status, duration of intervention or frequency of yoga sessions), with effect sizes being comparable between subgroups. Similar findings were found for anxiety symptoms except for treatment status, where the only significant effect was found when yoga was delivered during active treatment. Conclusions: This review provides evidence that in people with cancer, yoga-based interventions are associated with amelioration of depression and anxiety symptoms and therefore a promising therapeutic modality for their management. However, the potential for risk of bias together with control group design challenges means the results should be interpreted with caution.
KW - anxiety
KW - cancer
KW - depression
KW - integrative oncology
KW - psycho-oncology
KW - supportive cancer care
KW - survivorship
KW - yoga
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103052350&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/pon.5671
DO - 10.1002/pon.5671
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 33763925
AN - SCOPUS:85103052350
SN - 1057-9249
VL - 30
SP - 1196
EP - 1208
JO - Psycho-Oncology
JF - Psycho-Oncology
IS - 8
ER -