Table 2. Selected characteristics of the included studies for chronic and/or treatment-resistant populations.
| Study | Total patients [yoga group], diagnosis | Diagnosis by |
Co- interventions |
Intervention groups, length, frequency, duration, amount of home practice | Length of intervention, follow-up | Outcome measures 1. Primary 2. Secondary |
Results | CTAM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment | Control | Short term | Long term | |||||||
| Butler et al., 2008 [87] | 52 (17*) adults with dysthymia, double depression, (chronic) MDD (baseline HAM-D 15.87/12.33/ 15.81), community sample | SCID | Medication, no psychotherapy | Meditation and Hatha yoga (postures, breathing, meditation), 1x 2hr/week, daily home practice encouraged with audiocassettes (30 min/day, 6x /week) | 1. Group therapy with hypnosis, 1x 1.5 hr/week 2. Control group, psychoeducation |
12 weeks, 9 months | 1. Symptoms of depression (HAM-D; CDRS-SR) 2. MDE; Remission > 2 months |
1. No sig group dif | 1. No sig group dif 2. MDE: sig dif favoring both groups over control; Remission: sig dif favoring yoga over control |
60 |
| Gupta et al., 2013 [83] | 12 (6*) adults with GAD (baseline HAM-A 30.83/32.0), outpatients from institute for yoga and naturopathy | Unclear | Not reported | Yoga (postures, breathing), 1 hr/ day, home practice not reported | Naturopathy, 2x 30 min/day | 3 weeks | 1. Symptoms of anxiety (HAM-A) | 1. No sig group dif, more improvement in yoga group | 29 | |
| Uebela-cker et al., 2017 [90] | 122 (63*) adults with major depressive disorder (baseline QIDS 12.87), community sample (2/3 chronic) | SCID | Antidepressant medication (95–100%), psychotherapy (40%) | Hatha yoga (postures, breathing, meditation), at least 1 x 80 min / week, home practice encouraged | Healthy living workshop, 1–2 x 60 min / week | 10 weeks, 3 and 6 months |
1. Symptoms of depression (QIDS, PHQ-9) | 1. No sig group dif |
3 months: sig dif favoring yoga group over control 6 months: sig dif favoring yoga group over control |
82 |
| Vahia et al., 1973, stage 2 [85] | 27 (15*) adults with psychoneur-osis, absence of response to conventional treatments (baseline TAS 25.53/29.83), outpatients from a hospital | Unclear | Placebo tablet, support, reassurance | Yoga (postures, breathing, meditation), 1 hr, 5 days / week | Relaxation resembling yoga, 1 hr, 5 days / week | 4 weeks (at least) | 1. Symptoms of anxiety (TAS) | 1. Sig more improvement in yoga than control | 56 | |
Note 1. CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; CDRS-SR, Cornell Dysthymia Rating Scale; dif, difference; HAM-A, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety; HAM-D, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; LoE, Level of Evidence; MDE, Major Depressive Episode; min, minutes; MINI, MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview; QIDS, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology; SCID, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV; sig, significant; TOP, Treatment Outcome Package; sign, significant; TAS, Taylor’s Anxiety Scale;
* Number of patients that received the yoga intervention.