The Effect of a Yoga Intervention on Physical and Psychological Outcomes in Patients on Chronic Hemodialysis

Abstract

Studies have found that yoga may be beneficial to patients with chronic diseases by improving physical functioning, cardiovascular risk factors, and mood disorders. To date, minimal research has been conducted on the benefits of yoga in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Yoga utilizes postures, breathing, and meditation to help focus the mind and engage the body in low-to-moderate physical activity. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility of conducting a chair yoga study and compare the effects of a four-week chair yoga intervention on psychological and physiological outcomes in a sample of 31 patients on chronic hemodialysis. At study completion, the chair yoga group had significantly lower depression and anxiety scores, and diastolic blood pressure than the standard care group. This study demonstrated the difficulty in recruiting participants for yoga studies. Future studies with larger sample sizes and over longer durations of time should be conducted to further validate findings. In addition, further exploration of interventions to promote motivation in this population to participate in similar low-intensity exercises needs to be conducted.