title: Hatha-yoga as a psychological adjuvant for women undergoing IVF: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the influence of Hatha-yoga (HY) practice on distress of women before starting their first in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.
  
  
  METHODS
  We offered 143 consecutive women with couple infertility the opportunity to attend a free HY course lasting 3 months as a psychological support before starting their first IVF cycle. All women were asked to complete the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y1 (STAY-Y1), Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) at baseline (T1) and after 3 months (T2), to evaluate symptoms of anxiety, depression and distress, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 143 women, 120 completed all three questionnaires. Of these, 45 attended the HY course and 75 did not. At T1, EDS and GHQ-12 scores were significantly higher in the HY group than in the non-HY group. There were no group differences in STAI-Y1 scores. At T2 there were no group differences. When, in each group, the score of each questionnaire at T1 was compared to the score at T2, a significant T1 to T2 reduction was observed in the HY group (p<0.0001 for STAY-Y1 and GHQ-12, p<0.001 for EDS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that women who are more distressed are more likely to accept psychological support before starting an IVF cycle and that in these women HY practice is associated with distress reduction.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Vania
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valoriani
authors.affiliation: Sexual Medicine and Andrology Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.lotti@unifi.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lotti
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vanni
authors.affiliation: Infertility Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria-Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Noci
authors.affiliation: Infertility Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fontanarosa
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Infertility Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cozzi
authors.affiliation: Infertility Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (AOUC), Florence, Italy. Electronic address: ivo.noci@unifi.it.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Noci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D015013:Yoga
keywords: Anxiety; Distress, Hatha yoga; IVF; Infertility