Virtual Yoga Classes Aid Chronic Low Back Pain

TUESDAY, Nov. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Virtual yoga classes may be a feasible, safe, and effective treatment option for chronic low back pain (CLBP), according to a study published online Nov. 1 in JAMA Network Open.

Hallie Tankha, Ph.D., from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues compared the effects of virtual yoga classes (12 consecutive weeks; 60 minutes) versus a wait-list control on CLBP intensity, back-related function, sleep quality, and pain medication use. The analysis included 140 adults (18 to 64 years of age) with CLBP.

The researchers found that at week 12, yoga now versus yoga later had greater reductions in mean pain intensity (−1.5 points) and mean Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ; −2.8 points) scores. The improvements in pain (mean change, −2.3 points) and RMDQ (mean change, −4.6 points) scores were sustained at 24 weeks. Yoga now participants reported 21.4 absolute percentage points less use of any analgesic medication during the past week than yoga later participants at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks (21.2 absolute percentage points). Additionally, improvements in sleep quality were greater for participants in yoga now at 12 weeks (mean change, 0.4 points) and 24 weeks (mean change, 0.4 points).

“Through reducing barriers to in-person participation, virtual yoga classes may be a feasible, safe, and effective treatment option for CLBP,” the authors write.

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