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. 2021 Dec 16;13(12):e20466. doi: 10.7759/cureus.20466

Table 7. Summary of literature review.

Authors Study Design Participant Characteristics Intervention Results
Mehta et al., 2011 A school-based open-label exploratory study  n = 55  (Teacher assessments) Duration: twice a week for 12 months.    Baseline Parent: median = 9, range = 4–20
n=49/55 (Parent assessments) Baseline Teacher: median = 13, range = 7–21 
Ages: 6-11 Teacher’s 6-week follow-up: median = 4, range = 1–9  (P < 0.0001 Wilcoxon signed rank test).
ADHD types: 67.1% combined; 21.4% inattentive; 11.4% hyperactive/impulsive Intervention: It is a peer-mediated interventional program consisting of yoga, meditation and play therapy maintained by trained high school student volunteers Parent’s 5-week follow-up: median = 6, range 2–18 (P < 0.001 Wilcoxon signed rank test)
Assessment methods: Parent and Teacher Vanderbilt Questionnaires were used Parent’s 6-month follow up: median = 5, range = 0–18 (P < 0.001 Wilcoxon signed rank test)
Teacher’s 1 year follow-up: median = 0.5, range = 0–14 (P < 0.0001 Wilcoxon signed rank test)
Beart & Lessing, 2013 Exploratory study    Qualitative semi-structured interviews N = 10 n=8 taking Ritalin (6) or Concerta (2) And n=2 taking no medication   Duration: 6 weeks, twice a week for 40-minute sessions   Qualitative results: “Less aggressive”, “improved self-esteem”, “more confident”, “calmer behaviour”, “improved concentration” etc.  
Age: 9 years old (n=7) And 10 years old (n=3) Assessment methods: Children’s Apperception Test (CAT), the Lawrence Self-Esteem Questionnaire (LAWSEQ), Parent and Teacher interviews  Overall: the yoga intervention appeared to have had a positive effect on all participants, to varying degrees.
Harrison et al., 2004 An open trial treatment program N = 48   Duration: 6-week programme for twice-weekly 90 minute sessions     Baseline ADHD symptoms were moderately high, M = 22.65, and varied across the 48 participants (SD = 4.36; range: 15–30).  
n= 31 receiving medication Intervention: Non-drug adjunctive intervention using Sahaja Yoga Meditation Post treatment ADHD symptoms: SD = 4.91, range 0–19 (35% improvement) (t = 8.23, p < .001)
n=14 receiving no medication Assessment Methods: Biobehavioural Indicators of Self-Esteem questionnaire, An abbreviated version of Burnett’s (1994) 40-item self-evaluation and self-description measure, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Third edition (PPVT-III), and child interviews No medication (n=6) Mean score reduction after 6 weeks = 7.83, S.D. = 5.15
n=3 unknown medical information Medication (n=20) Mean score reduction after 6 weeks = 7.95, S.D. = 4.97
Age: 4-12 Medication vs. no medication statistically not significant
Reduced dosage (n=11) Mean score reduction after 6 weeks = 10.18, S.D. = 4.79
No change of dosage (n=9) Mean score reduction after 6 weeks = 5.22, S.D. = 3.83
Change in dosage vs. no change t = 2.51, p<0.02
Varambally et al., 2013 A hospital-based open-label exploratory study N = 9   Duration: at least 8 days, six 1-hour sessions, monthly follow up for 3 months The reduction was statistically significant for scores between baseline and discharge 
Age: 6-13 Intervention: The yoga program consisted of Sukṣmavyayāma (loosening exercises), Yogāsana (physical postures), Prāṇāyāma (breathing exercises) and meditation in the form of Nādānusandhāna (OM chanting) P=0.014 on CARS
Assessment Methods: ADHD rating scale-IV (ADHD-RS), Conners' abbreviated rating scale (CARS), and clinical global impression (CGI) Severity P=0.021 on ADHD-RS 
P=0.004 on CGI
There was no significant reduction in the scores during the follow-up. By the third month, scores were returning to baseline.
Cohen et al., 2018 Randomized waitlist-controlled trial  n = 23   Duration: Total 12 weeks (both groups)    At the 6 week follow up: Group 1 had faster reaction times on the KiTAP task (p = 0.01, 95% confidence interval [CI], 2371.1 to 259.1, d = 21.7) than Group 2. 
Group 1 had fewer distractibility errors of omission (p = 0.009, 95% CI, 214.2 to 22.3, d = 21.5) than Group 2
Group 1 had more commission errors (p = 0.02, 95% CI, 1.4–14.8, d = 1.3) than Group 2
Group 1: n=12 (practiced yoga first) Intervention: home- and school-based children's yoga intervention. Children in Group 1 with more severe symptoms at baseline showed improvement versus control on parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) hyperactivity-inattention (b=22.1, p = 0.04, 95% CI, 24.0 to 20.1)
Children in Group 1 with more severe symptoms at baseline showed improvement versus control on inattention on the ADHD Rating Scale (b=24.4, p = 0.02, 95% CI, 27.9 to 20.9). 
Group 2: n=11 (practiced yoga second) Assessment Methods: ADHD RS-IV Preschool Version18, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire19 (SDQ), Kinder Test of Attentional Performance (KiTAP), and heart rate variability (HRV) as a physiologic index of self-regulation. HRV measures did not differ between groups.
Age: 3-5