The Safety of Yoga: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Cramer, H; Ward, L; Saper, R; Fishbein, D; Dobos, G; Lauche, R

The Safety of Yoga: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Cramer, H

Ward, L

Saper, R Fishbein, D Dobos, G Lauche, R

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: American Journal of Epidemiology, 2015, 182 (4), pp. 281 - 293
Issue Date:: 2015-01-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	Cramer 2015 The Safety of Yoga Systematic Review.pdf	Published Version	493.48 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Cramer, H https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3640-8046	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ward, L https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7285-2032	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Saper, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fishbein, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Dobos, G	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lauche, R https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4171-7935	en_US
dc.date.available	2015-03-16	en_US
dc.date.issued	2015-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	American Journal of Epidemiology, 2015, 182 (4), pp. 281 - 293	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0002-9262	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/43708
dc.description.abstract	© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. As yoga has gained popularity as a therapeutic intervention, its safety has been questioned in the lay press. Thus, this review aimed to systematically assess and meta-analyze the frequency of adverse events in randomized controlled trials of yoga. MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and IndMED were screened through February 2014. Of 301 identified randomized controlled trials of yoga, 94 (1975-2014; total of 8,430 participants) reported on adverse events. Life-threatening, disabling adverse events or those requiring intensive treatment were defined as serious and all other events as nonserious. No differences in the frequency of intervention-related, nonserious, or serious adverse events and of dropouts due to adverse events were found when comparing yoga with usual care or exercise. Compared with psychological or educational interventions (e.g., health education), more intervention-related adverse events (odds ratio = 4.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 17.67; P = 0.05) and more nonserious adverse events (odds ratio = 7.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.91, 27.92; P < 0.01) occurred in the yoga group; serious adverse events and dropouts due to adverse events were comparable between groups. Findings from this review indicate that yoga appears as safe as usual care and exercise. The adequate reporting of safety data in future randomized trials of yoga is crucial to conclusively judge its safety.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	American Journal of Epidemiology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1093/aje/kwv071	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Epidemiology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Wounds and Injuries	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Yoga	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Safety	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Databases, Bibliographic	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adolescent	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adult	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Aged	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Aged, 80 and over	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Middle Aged	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Child	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Female	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Male	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Mind-Body Therapies	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Young Adult	en_US
dc.title	The Safety of Yoga: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	182	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	01 Mathematical Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	182	en_US

Abstract:

© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. As yoga has gained popularity as a therapeutic intervention, its safety has been questioned in the lay press. Thus, this review aimed to systematically assess and meta-analyze the frequency of adverse events in randomized controlled trials of yoga. MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and IndMED were screened through February 2014. Of 301 identified randomized controlled trials of yoga, 94 (1975-2014; total of 8,430 participants) reported on adverse events. Life-threatening, disabling adverse events or those requiring intensive treatment were defined as serious and all other events as nonserious. No differences in the frequency of intervention-related, nonserious, or serious adverse events and of dropouts due to adverse events were found when comparing yoga with usual care or exercise. Compared with psychological or educational interventions (e.g., health education), more intervention-related adverse events (odds ratio = 4.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 17.67; P = 0.05) and more nonserious adverse events (odds ratio = 7.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.91, 27.92; P < 0.01) occurred in the yoga group; serious adverse events and dropouts due to adverse events were comparable between groups. Findings from this review indicate that yoga appears as safe as usual care and exercise. The adequate reporting of safety data in future randomized trials of yoga is crucial to conclusively judge its safety.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/43708