Iyengar Yoga for Adolescents and Young Adults With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Objectives Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, disabling condition that greatly compromises patient functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a 6-week twice per week Iyengar yoga (IY) program on IBS symptoms in adolescents and young adults (YA) with IBS compared with a usual-care waitlist control group. Methods Assessments of symptoms, global improvement, pain, health-related quality of life, psychological distress, functional disability, fatigue, and sleep were collected pre- and posttreatment. Weekly ratings of pain, IBS symptoms, and global improvement were also recorded until 2-month follow-up. A total of 51 participants completed the intervention (yoga = 29; usual-care waitlist = 22). Results Baseline attrition was 24%. On average, the yoga group attended 75% of classes. Analyses were divided by age group. Relative to controls, adolescents (14–17 years) assigned to yoga reported significantly improved physical functioning, whereas YA (18–26 years) assigned to yoga reported significantly improved IBS symptoms, global improvement, disability, psychological distress, sleep quality, and fatigue. Although abdominal pain intensity was statistically unchanged, 44% of adolescents and 46% of YA reported a minimally clinically significant reduction in pain following yoga, and one-third of YA reported clinically significant levels of global symptom improvement. Analysis of the uncontrolled effects and maintenance of treatment effects for adolescents revealed global improvement immediately post-yoga that was not maintained at follow-up. For YA, global improvement, worst pain, constipation, and nausea were significantly improved postyoga, but only global improvement, worst pain, and nausea maintained at the 2-month follow-up. Conclusions The findings suggest that a brief IY intervention is a feasible and safe adjunctive treatment for young people with IBS, leading to benefits in a number of IBS-specific and general functioning domains for YA. The age-specific results suggest that yoga interventions may be most fruitful when developmentally tailored.

Clinical Case Report: Yoga for Fatigue in Five Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer

“…To see sustained effects, patients likely need to continue with longterm yoga training or develop a home practice. The lack of engagement in yoga at follow-up is consistent with previous studies 28,29 and likely reflects the need for continued support of the practice.…”

Yoga research review

“…Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common gastrointestinal disorder [109]. In this six week twice per week Iyengar yoga study individuals with irritable bowel syndrome were compared with a waitlist control group.…”

Self-regulation evaluation of therapeutic yoga and walking for patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a pilot study

“…Iyengar yoga has been tested as a therapeutic treatment with beneficial results for various conditions, including depressed mood and anxiety (Balasubramaniam, Telles, & Doraiswamy, 2013;Javnbakht, Hejazi Kenari, & Ghasemi, 2009;Michalsen et al, 2005;Shapiro & Cline, 2004;Shapiro et al, 2007;Woolery, Myers, Sternlieb, & Zeltzer, 2004), persistent fatigue (Bower, Garet, & Sternlieb, 2011), and pain conditions including low back pain , osteoarthritis (Bukowski, Conway, Glentz, Kurland, & Galantino, 2006;Garfinkel, Schumacher, Husain, Levy, & Reshetar, 1994;Kolasinski et al, 2005), rheumatoid arthritis (Evans et al, 2013), chronic pancreatitis (Sareen, Kumari, Gajebasia, & Gajebasia, 2007), and carpal tunnel syndrome (Garfinkel et al, 1998). Studies of Iyengar yoga for IBS have been favorable, providing a decrease in symptomatology and anxiety (Evans et al, 2014;Kuttner et al, 2006;Taneja et al, 2004). However, the number of studies is small, and none have used an adequate active comparison condition against which to test efficacy of treatment, with most employing a waitlist control.…”