Trial reportJournal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)2013
Efficacy of an eight-week yoga intervention on symptoms of restless legs syndrome (RLS): a pilot study.
Trial report in Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatment of restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine systematic review, meta-analysis, and GRADE assessment.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of chronic yoga interventions on sleep quality in people with sleep disorders: a scoping review.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Yoga for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review of Controlled Trials.Journal of diabetes research · 2016Pooled it
- An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial of a 12-Week Yoga Versus Educational Film Program for the Management of Restless Legs Syndrome: Feasibility and Acceptability.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2022Trial
- Effects of a 12-week yoga versus a 12-week educational film intervention on symptoms of restless legs syndrome and related outcomes: an exploratory randomized controlled trial.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2020Trial
- Effects of Meditation versus Music Listening on Perceived Stress, Mood, Sleep, and Quality of Life in Adults with Early Memory Loss: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2016Trial
- Unfolding the role of exercise in the management of sleep disorders.European journal of applied physiology · 2024Review
- Circadian rhythm in restless legs syndrome.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Update on Restless Legs Syndrome: from Mechanisms to Treatment.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2019Review
- Article
- Treatment of restless legs syndrome.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2014Review
- Practice recommendations for the role of physiotherapy in the management of sleep disorders: the 2022 Brazilian Sleep Association Guidelines.Sleep science (Sao Paulo, Brazil)Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRestless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common and highly burdensome sleep disorder. While relaxation therapies, including yoga, are often recommended for RLS management, rigorous supporting research is sparse. The goal of this preliminary study was to assess the effects of yoga on RLS symptoms and related outcomes in women with RLS.
methodsParticipants were 13 nonsmoking women with moderate to severe RLS, who did not have diabetes, sleep apnea, or other serious concomitant chronic conditions, and who were not pregnant. The intervention was a gentle, 8-week Iyengar yoga program. Core outcomes assessed pre- and post-treatment were RLS symptoms and symptom severity (International RLS Scale [IRLS] and RLS ordinal scale), sleep quality (Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale), mood (Profile of Mood States), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale). Participants also completed yoga logs and a brief exit questionnaire regarding their experience with the study.
resultsTen (10) women, aged 32-66 years, completed the study. Participants attended an average 13.4±0.5 (of 16 possible) classes, and completed a mean of 4.1±0.3 (of 5 possible) homework sessions/week. At follow-up, participants demonstrated striking reductions in RLS symptoms and symptom severity, with symptoms decreasing to minimal/mild in all but 1 woman and no participant scoring in the severe range by week 8. Effect sizes (Cohen's d) were large: 1.6 for IRLS total, and 2.2 for RLS ordinal scale. IRLS scores declined significantly with increasing minutes of homework practice per session (r=0.70, p=0.025) and total homework minutes (r=0.64, p<0.05), suggesting a possible dose-response relation. Participants also showed significant improvements in sleep, perceived stress, and mood (all p's≤0.02), with effect sizes ranging from 1.0 to 1.6.
conclusionsThese preliminary findings suggest that yoga may be effective in attenuating RLS symptoms and symptom severity, reducing perceived stress, and improving sleep and mood in women with RLS.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.