Yoga Therapy in Cancer Care via Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Integr Cancer Ther
; 21: 15347354221141094, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2162232
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Yoga is an evidence-based mind-body practice known to improve physical and mental health in cancer patients. We report on the processes and patient-reported outcomes of one-on-one yoga therapy (YT) consultations delivered via telehealth.METHODS:
For patients completing a YT consultation between March 2020 and October 2021, we examined demographics, reasons for referral, and self-reported symptom burden before and after one YT session using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS). Changes in ESAS symptom and subscale scores [physical distress (PHS), psychological distress (PSS), and global distress (GDS)] were evaluated by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Descriptive statistics summarized the data.RESULTS:
Ninety-seven initial YT consults were completed, with data evaluated for 95 patient encounters. The majority were women (83.2%) and white (75.8%), The mean age for females was 54.0 and for males was 53.4; the most common diagnosis was breast cancer (48%), 32.6% had metastatic disease, and nearly half (48.4%) were employed full-time. Mental health (43.0%) was the most common reason for referral, followed by fatigue (13.2%) and sleep disturbances (11.7%). The highest symptoms at baseline were sleep disturbance (4.3), followed by anxiety (3.7) and fatigue (3.5). YT lead to clinically and statistically significant reductions in PHS (mean change = -3.1, P < .001) and GDS (mean change = -5.1, P < .001) and significant reductions in PSS (mean change = -1.6, P < .001). Examination of specific symptom scores revealed clinically and statistically significant reductions in anxiety (mean change score -1.34, P < .001) and fatigue (mean change score -1.22, P < .001). Exploratory analyses of patients scoring ≥1 for specific symptoms pre-YT revealed clinically and statistically significant improvements in almost all symptoms and those scoring ≥4 pre-YT.CONCLUSIONS:
As part of an integrative oncology outpatient consultation service, a single YT intervention delivered via telehealth contributed to a significant improvement in global, physical, and psychosocial distress. Additional research is warranted to explore the long-term sustainability of the improvement in symptoms.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Yoga
/
Breast Neoplasms
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Long Covid
/
Traditional medicine
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Integr Cancer Ther
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
/
Therapeutics
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
15347354221141094
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