Yoga of little benefit in IBS

For patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), practicing yoga does not help improve symptoms, anxiety, depression, and quality of life, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Researchers searched multiple online databases for studies in which the therapeutic effect of yoga on IBS symptoms was examined. Heterogeneity was assessed using the χ2 test and I2 statistics.

A total of 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which involved 535 patients, were identified and included in the meta-analysis. Of these RCTs, seven were conducted in adult patients, three in paediatric or adolescent patients, and one in adolescents and young adults.

The yoga intervention used varied among the included trials, with the program duration ranging from 6 weeks to 8 months and the session duration ranging between 40 and 90 minutes.

Pooled data showed no significant difference between the yoga and control groups in terms of alleviating the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms (standardized mean difference [SMD], −0.66, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], −1.51 to 0.18; p=0.12), anxiety (SMD, −0.39, 95 percent CI, −0.85 to 0.06; p=0.09), and depression (SMD, −0.46, 95 percent CI, −1.15 to 0.22; p=0.19).

Similarly, quality of life did not significantly differ between the yoga and control groups (SMD, 0.53, 95 percent CI, −0.38 to 1.44; p=0.25).

Considerable methodological heterogeneity and high risk of bias were observed among the included RCTs.