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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2023

Open Access 01-12-2023 | Post Traumatic Stress Disorder | Research

Management of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms by yoga: an overview

Authors: Nina Laplaud, Anaïck Perrochon, Matthieu Gallou-Guyot, Maarten Moens, Lisa Goudman, Romain David, Philippe Rigoard, Maxime Billot

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2023

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Abstract

Background

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after trauma. While PTSD management strategies include first-line pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, mind–body therapies, such as yoga, are applied in the PTSD population. This overview aimed to summarize the effectiveness of yoga interventions on PTSD symptoms in adults in a systematic review (SR) including randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Method

We searched for SR with or without meta-analysis of RCTs involving adults with PTSD diagnosis or trauma history. The search was conducted until April 2022, through six databases (Cochrane Database, MEDLINE (Pubmed), Scopus, Embase, CINHAL and PEDro). The primary outcome was the evolution of PTSD symptoms throughout the intervention. Secondary outcomes included follow-up, safety, adherence, and cost of the intervention. Two authors independently performed the selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment with the AMSTAR 2 tool and overlap calculation. This overview is a qualitative summary of the results obtained in the selected studies.

Results

Eleven SRs were analyzed, of which 8 included meta-analyses. The overlap between studies was considered very high (corrected covered area of 21%). Fifty-nine RCTs involving 4434 participants were included. Yoga had a significant small-to-moderate effect-size on PTSD symptom decrease in 7 SRs and non-significant effects in 1 SR with meta-analysis. All SR without meta-analysis found beneficial effects of yoga on PTSD. Secondary outcomes were not sufficiently assessed to provide clear evidence. Results should be interpreted with caution as 1 SR was rated as at moderate risk of bias, 3 as low and 7 as critically low.

Conclusions

While yoga therapy seems promising for decreasing PTSD symptoms, future research should standardize yoga therapy duration/frequency/type and consider long-term efficacy to better delineate yoga therapy efficacy in PTSD patients.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Management of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms by yoga: an overview
Authors
Nina Laplaud
Anaïck Perrochon
Matthieu Gallou-Guyot
Maarten Moens
Lisa Goudman
Romain David
Philippe Rigoard
Maxime Billot
Publication date
01-12-2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2023
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-023-04074-w

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