Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital; and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Int J Yoga Therap. 2024 Oct 1;34(2024). doi: 10.17761/2024-D-22-00014.
Despite decades of research on yoga and depression, subjective experiences of participants in these studies have rarely been reported, and never in individuals receiving heated yoga for depression. We examined patient-reported qualitative findings from an 8-week randomized controlled trial of heated yoga for depression. Eighty medically healthy participants with moderate-to-severe depression were randomized to 8 weeks of at least twice-weekly heated yoga classes, derived from Bikram yoga, or a waitlist control. Fifty-seven participants received a clinician-administered exit interview at intervention completion/study withdrawal. The exit interview assessed: (1) how participants felt immediately following the heated yoga sessions (acute effects), (2) what they liked or found helpful about heated yoga over the 8-week intervention (positive effects), and (3) what they disliked/did not find helpful over the 8-week intervention (negative effects). Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Acute improvements in depressive symptoms (i.e., immediately following yoga) were the most commonly reported (n = 44, 77.2%), followed by overall positive effects on depressive symptoms (i.e., over the course of the 8-week intervention; n = 33, 57.9%), including improvements in sleep (n = 10, 17.5%), energy (n = 13, 22.8%), mood (n = 18, 31.6%), motivation (n = 2, 3.5%), and concentration/decision-making (n = 5, 8.8%). Overall negative effects (i.e., over the course of the 8-week intervention) included dislike of various aspects of the intervention (n = 19, 33.3%), such as instruction (n = 7, 12.3%), difficulty (n = 7, 12.3%), repetitiveness (n = 3, 5.3%), class length (n = 2, 3.5%), and boredom (n = 7, 12.3%). Most participants reported both overall positive and negative effects (n = 37, 64.9%). Of the rest, 19 (33.3%) reported only overall positive effects, and 1 (1.8%) reported only overall negative effects. Most participant experiences were positive. Negative effects were less common and primarily involved dislike of different aspects of the heated yoga. The findings support strong acceptability and subjective improvement in depressive symptoms in depressed individuals.
尽管瑜伽和抑郁症的研究已经进行了几十年，但这些研究中参与者的主观体验很少被报道，更从未在接受热瑜伽治疗抑郁症的个体中被报道过。我们调查了一项为期 8 周的热瑜伽治疗抑郁症的随机对照试验中患者报告的定性发现。80 名身体状况良好、有中度至重度抑郁症的参与者被随机分配到每周至少两次接受源自比克拉姆瑜伽的热瑜伽课程，或等待名单对照。57 名参与者在干预结束/研究退出时接受了临床医生进行的出院面谈。出院面谈评估了：（1）参与者在热瑜伽课程结束后立即的感受（急性影响），（2）他们在 8 周干预期间对热瑜伽的喜好或发现的有用之处（积极影响），以及（3）他们在 8 周干预期间不喜欢或发现没有帮助的地方（消极影响）。定性数据使用主题分析进行分析。抑郁症状的急性改善（即在瑜伽后立即）是最常报告的（n = 44，77.2%），其次是抑郁症状的整体积极影响（即在 8 周干预期间；n = 33，57.9%），包括睡眠改善（n = 10，17.5%）、能量改善（n = 13，22.8%）、情绪改善（n = 18，31.6%）、动力改善（n = 2，3.5%）和注意力/决策力改善（n = 5，8.8%）。整体负面效应（即在 8 周干预期间）包括对干预的各个方面的不喜欢（n = 19，33.3%），例如指导（n = 7，12.3%）、难度（n = 7，12.3%）、重复性（n = 3，5.3%）、课程长度（n = 2，3.5%）和无聊（n = 7，12.3%）。大多数参与者报告了整体积极和消极的影响（n = 37，64.9%）。其余的，19 人（33.3%）只报告了整体积极影响，1 人（1.8%）只报告了整体消极影响。大多数参与者的体验是积极的。负面效应不太常见，主要涉及对热瑜伽不同方面的不喜欢。研究结果支持抑郁个体中抑郁症状的强烈可接受性和主观改善。
