title: Iyengar yoga for adolescents and young adults with irritable bowel syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Pain Program, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Subhadra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Kirsten C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lung
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sternlieb
authors.forename: Lonnie K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Zeltzer
authors.forename: Jennie C I
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tsao
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D009325:Nausea / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015013:Yoga; D055815:Young Adult