Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23894731›Full record

SynthesisPain research & management

Yoga for chronic low back pain: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Susan Holtzman, R Thomas Beggs

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Pain research & management. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04723225 (To Observe The Effectiveness Of Cat-Cow Yoga In The Pain Management Of Chronic Low Back Pain In Health Care Professionals), which is not on this map. Cited by 48 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
8.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT04723225 nacompletednot on this map

To Observe The Effectiveness Of Cat-Cow Yoga In The Pain Management Of Chronic Low Back Pain In Health Care Professionals

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of KarachiRan2021 to 2023Enrolled100ConditionsChronic Low-back PainArmsCat-Cow Yoga
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 134 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Yoga for chronic non-specific low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022
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  9. Yoga treatment for chronic non-specific low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Susan Holtzman
R Thomas Beggs
Okanagan University College · CAUniversity of British Columbia · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo evaluate the efficacy of yoga as an intervention for chronic low back pain (CLBP) using a meta-analytical approach. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined pain and⁄or functional disability as treatment outcomes were included. Post-treatment and follow-up outcomes were assessed.

methodsA comprehensive search of relevant electronic databases, from the time of their inception until November 2011, was conducted. Cohen's d effect sizes were calculated and entered in a random-effects model.

resultsEight RCTs met the criteria for inclusion (eight assessing functional disability and five assessing pain) and involved a total of 743 patients. At post-treatment, yoga had a medium to large effect on functional disability (d=0.645) and pain (d=0.623). Despite a wide range of yoga styles and treatment durations, heterogeneity in post-treatment effect sizes was low. Follow-up effect sizes for functional disability and pain were smaller, but remained significant (d=0.397 and d=0.486, respectively); however, there was a moderate to high level of variability in these effect sizes. DISCUSSION: The results of the present study indicate that yoga may be an efficacious adjunctive treatment for CLBP. The strongest and most consistent evidence emerged for the short-term benefits of yoga on functional disability. However, before any definitive conclusions can be drawn, there are a number of methodological concerns that need to be addressed. In particular, it is recommended that future RCTs include an active control group to determine whether yoga has specific treatment effects and whether yoga offers any advantages over traditional exercise programs and other alternative therapies for CLBP.

Indexed as

Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicYogaFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansLow Back PainMaleTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID23894731
PMCPMC3805350
OpenAlexW2150406149

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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.