Effect of yoga therapy on anxiety and depressive symptoms and quality-of-life among caregivers of in-patients with neurological disorders at a tertiary care center in India: A randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
The concerns of caregivers of patients with neurological disorders have been a felt need for a long time, with many of them experiencing significant psychiatric morbidity.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to find the effect of yoga in reducing anxiety and depression, as well as improving quality-of-life in caregivers of patients with neurological disorders.


METHODS
The study was conducted using a randomized controlled design, with yoga intervention and waitlisted controls.


METHODS
SIXTY CONSENTING CAREGIVERS OF INPATIENTS IN NEUROLOGY WARDS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS: Yoga and control. Demographic variables except years of education and length of caretaking were comparable in the two groups, as also baseline scores of anxiety, depression and quality-of-life. A specific yoga module comprising yogāsanas, prāṇāyāma, and chanting was taught to the participants in the yoga group by the researcher. At follow-up 43 patients (yoga n=20 and control group n=23) were available. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to test the change from pre-test to post-test scores within and between groups. Analysis of covariance was performed to compare the post-test scores between the groups adjusting for education and length of caretaking.


RESULTS
Following one month intervention of yoga therapy, there was a significant (P<0.001) decrease in anxiety and depression scores, as well as improved quality-of-life among the participants in the yoga group as compared with the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights the usefulness of a yoga intervention for caregivers of inpatients with neurological problems. The small sample size and lack of blinding were some of the limitations of this study.
Department of Nursing, Advanced Centre for Yoga, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
P
P
Umadevi
Ramachandra
S
S
Varambally
M
M
Philip
B N
BN
Gangadhar
Anxiety; caregivers; depression; neurological illness; yoga