The authors of “Effects of High-Intensity Hatha Yoga on Cardiovascular Fitness, Adipocytokines, and Apolipoproteins in Healthy Students: A Randomized Controlled Study,” by Marian E. Papp, et al., published in the January 2016 issue of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (vol. 22, no.1;81–87), received comments from readers regarding a lack of clarity in the primary and secondary outcomes that were investigated in the article.
Specifically, the authors would like to address the changes marked in boldface, and affect the Abstract, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions sections of the published article.
Corrections to Abstract on Page 81
Results: HIY had no significant effects on cardiovascular fitness (mean dose: 390 minutes [range, 210–800 minutes]), HR, HRR, BP, or any of the blood parameters. However, secondary findings showed that ApoA1 (1.47 ± 0.17 to 1.55 ± 0.16 g/L; p = 0.03) and adiponectin (8.32 ± 3.32 to 9.68 ± 3.83 mg/L; p = 0.003) levels increased significantly in the HIY group after 6 weeks.
Conclusions: Six weeks of HIY did not significantly improve cardiovascular fitness. However, secondary findings showed that ApoA1 and adiponectin levels increased significantly in the HIY group. This finding suggests that HIY may have positive effects on blood lipids and an anti-inflammatory effect.
Corrections to Results Section on Page 83
There were no significant group differences at baseline in any of the parameters (Tables 1 and 2). Secondary findings showed that both ApoA1 (change of 0.08 g/L; 95% CI, 0.0–0.1 g/L) and adiponectin (change of 1.35 mg/L; 95% CI, 0.5–2.2 mg/L) increased significantly in the HIY group; no other significant effect was seen between the HIY and the control groups.
Corrections to Discussion Section on Page 84
An intervention with a 6-week HIY program showed no significant effect on cardiovascular fitness as compared to a control group. However, secondary findings showed that blood parameters within the HIY group, significant effects emerged for ApoA1 and adiponectin.
Corrections to Conclusions Section on Page 86
Contrary to the initial hypothesis, this 6-week HIY program had no significant effect on estimated VO2max. This probably relates to insufficiencies and variations regarding both HIY dose and intensity. The weather conditions also varied slightly during the Cooper tests. An additional limitation involves the use of pseudo-randomization to obtain equal group sizes. However, secondary findings showed that apolipoprotein A1 and adiponectin levels increased significantly in the HIY group, which suggests that HIY can potentially be effective in low doses.
The online article has been corrected to reflect these changes.
The authors apologize for this error.