Chattha 2008.

Study characteristics
Methods	Study design: RCT Duration of study: not specified Country: India Income classification: lower‐income country until the date of publication of the study Geographical scope: participants were recruited from gynaecological outpatient clinics in 14 different areas of Bangalore city (India). Healthcare setting: Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation (SVYASA), a yoga university
Participants	1. Age: age between 45 and 55 years irrespective of whether they were menstruating regularly 2. Gender: female 3. Socioeconomic background: of the total participants, 87.76% were housewives, and those who worked were either high school teachers or bank officials. 4. Educational background: high school education or more Inclusion criteria: a. age between 45 and 55 years irrespective of whether they were menstruating regularly (symptomatic women who had stopped menstruating more than 3 years ago were also included); b. a serum follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) level of 15 mIU/mL or more on the sixth day of the menstrual cycle if the woman was menstruating regularly or at the time of recruitment, if the woman had stopped menstruating or had irregular cycles; c. women who had undergone hysterectomy with retained ovaries were also included. Exclusion criteria: a. having practised yoga for 1 month or more; b. no knowledge of English; c. less than high school education; e. taking psychiatric medication; f. other exclusion criteria based on health status (e.g. gynaecological problems such as endometriosis, diabetes mellitus, hypo‐/hyperthyroidism). Note: at baseline, the intervention and control group scores for the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were, respectively, 17.74 (6.15) and 17.3 (6.61). Stated purpose: to study the effect of yoga on the climacteric symptoms, perceived stress, and personality in perimenopausal women
Interventions	Name: Integrated Approach to Yoga Therapy (IAYT) Title/name of PW and number: trained instructors for yoga (number not specified) 1. Selection: not specified 2. Educational background: not specified 3. Training: not specified 4. Supervision: not specified 5. Incentives/remuneration: not specified Prevention type: selective—women in the perimenopausal phase whose baseline levels scores indicate that they were well below the cut‐off for high stress as measured by PSS scores Intervention details: IAYT consists of a set of yoga exercises (Patanjali yoga sutras and Mandukaya karika), which were done for 1 hour per day, 5 days per week for 8 weeks by trained instructors. The yoga module highlights the concepts of a holistic approach to health management at physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual levels with techniques to improve mental equilibrium. The list of practices were (1) sun salutation, (2) breathing exercises, (3) cycling meditation, (4) lectures on IAYT, diet, emotion culture, concepts, and management of stress according to yogic principles. Control: active control – the control group practised a set of exercises comprising easy (nonsweating) body movements supervised by physical trainers for 1 hour daily, 5 days per week for 8 weeks. There were also lectures and individual counselling on conventional modern medical concepts about a healthy lifestyle including diet, exercise, and psychology of menopause and stress management techniques.
Outcomes	Participants’outcomes of interest for this review Distress/PTSD symptoms – PSS Carers' outcomes of interest for this review Nil Economic outcomes Nil Time points: baseline, post‐intervention (< 1 month)
Notes	Source of funding: not specified Notes on validation of instruments (screening and outcomes): validity of the PSS amongst menopausal women (not in the country of trial execution) was reported. Additional information: none Handling the data: no data available Prospective trial registration number: not reported