Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2006 Jan-Feb;12(1):40-7.

Randomized, controlled, six-month trial of yoga in healthy seniors: effects on cognition and quality of life

Barry S Oken  1 , Daniel Zajdel, Shirley Kishiyama, Kristin Flegal, Cathleen Dehen, Mitchell Haas, Dale F Kraemer, Julie Lawrence, Joanne Leyva
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Randomized, controlled, six-month trial of yoga in healthy seniors: effects on cognition and quality of life

Barry S Oken et al. Altern Ther Health Med. 2006 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Context: There are potential benefits of mind-body techniques on cognitive function because the techniques involve an active attentional or mindfulness component, but this has not been fully explored.

Objective: To determine the effect of yoga on cognitive function, fatigue, mood, and quality of life in seniors.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial comparing yoga, exercise, and wait-list control groups.

Participants: One hundred thirty-five generally healthy men and women aged 65-85 years.

Intervention: Participants were randomized to 6 months of Hatha yoga class, walking exercise class, or wait-list control. Subjects assigned to classes also were asked to practice at home.

Main outcome measures: Outcome assessments performed at baseline and after the 6-month period included a battery of cognitive measures focused on attention and alertness, the primary outcome measures being performance on the Stroop Test and a quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) measure of alertness; SF-36 health-related quality of life; Profile of Mood States; Multi-Dimensional Fatigue Inventory; and physical measures related to the interventions.

Results: One hundred thirty-five subjects were recruited and randomized. Seventeen subjects did not finish the 6-month intervention. There were no effects from either of the active interventions on any of the cognitive and alertness outcome measures. The yoga intervention produced improvements in physical measures (eg, timed 1-legged standing, forward flexibility) as well as a number of quality-of-life measures related to sense of well-being and energy and fatigue compared to controls.

Conclusions: There were no relative improvements of cognitive function among healthy seniors in the yoga or exercise group compared to the wait-list control group. Those in the yoga group showed significant improvement in quality-of-life and physical measures compared to exercise and wait-list control groups.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow of Study Subjects From Recruitment Through Randomization and Analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Saper RB, Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Culpepper L, Phillips RS. Prevalence and patterns of adult yoga use in the United States: results of a national survey. Altern Ther Health Med. 2004;10:44–49. - PubMed
    1. Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. CDC Ad Data. 2004;(343) May 27, 2004:1–19. - PubMed
    1. Berger BG, Owen DR. Mood alteration with yoga and swimming: aerobic exercise may not be necessary. Percept Mot Skills. 1992;75(3 Pt 2):1331–1343. - PubMed
    1. Berger BG, Owen DR. Stress reduction and mood enhancement in four exercise modes: swimming, body conditioning, Hatha yoga, and fencing. Res Q Exerc Sport. 1988;59(2):148–159.
    1. Feuerstein G. Traditional definitions of yoga. Yoga Research and Education Center website. Available at: http://www.yrec.info/contentid-l7.html Accessed November 29, 2005.

Publication types