title: The Practice of Hatha Yoga for the Treatment of Pain Associated with Endometriosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare chronic pelvic pain, menstrual patterns, and quality of life (QoL) in two groups of women with endometriosis: those who did and those who did not participate in a specific 8-week yoga intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a randomized controlled trial. It was conducted at the University of Campinas Medical School, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Forty women were randomly divided into two groups: an intervention group of women who practiced yoga (n = 28), and a control group of women who did not practice yoga (n = 12). Participants attended 90-min scheduled yoga sessions twice a week for 8 weeks. Additionally, an Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP)-30 questionnaire was applied to evaluate women's QoL at admission and 2 months later upon completion of the yoga program. Menstrual and daily pain patterns were evaluated through a daily calendar (visual analog scale).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The degree of daily pain was significantly lower among the women who practiced yoga compared with the non-yoga group (p = 0.0007). There was an improvement of QoL in both groups between baseline and the end of the study evaluation. In relation to EHP-30 domains, pain (p = 0.0046), impotence (p = 0.0006), well-being (p = 0.0009), and image (p = 0.0087) from the central questionnaire, and work (p = 0.0027) and treatment (p = 0.0245) from the modular questionnaire were significantly different between the study groups over time. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the diary of menstrual patterns (p = 0.96).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Yoga practice was associated with a reduction in levels of chronic pelvic pain and an improvement in QoL in women with endometriosis.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Campinas Medical School , Campinas, Brazil .
authors.forename: Andrea Vasconcelos
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Collective Health, University of Campinas Medical School , Campinas, Brazil .
authors.forename: Nelson Filice
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Campinas Medical School , Campinas, Brazil .
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bahamondes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation; D008598:Menstruation; D059408:Pain Management; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015013:Yoga
keywords: complementary therapies; endometriosis; pain; pelvic pain; quality of life; yoga