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
. 2016 Aug 11;16(1):279.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-016-1271-1.

Heart rate variability in chronic low back pain patients randomized to yoga or standard care

Shirley Telles  1 , Sachin Kumar Sharma  2 , Ram Kumar Gupta  2 , Abhishek Kumar Bhardwaj  2 , Acharya Balkrishna  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Heart rate variability in chronic low back pain patients randomized to yoga or standard care

Shirley Telles et al. BMC Complement Altern Med. .

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain can alter the autonomic balance with increased sympathetic activity reflected in altered heart rate variability (HRV). It has been proposed that yoga can be useful to correct the autonomic imbalance in patients with chronic pain who have reduced HRV.

Methods and designs: In the present randomized controlled trial 62 patients with chronic low back pain associated with altered alignment of intervertebral discs (aged between 20 and 45 years, 32 males) were randomized to 2 groups. One group received yoga for 3 months while the other group carried out standard medical care based on the physician's advice. The duration was the same, i.e., 3 months. The heart rate variability and rate of respiration were assessed at baseline and at the end of 3 months.

Results: There was a significant difference in the baseline (pre) values between groups (p = 0.008) for respiration rate which was higher in the yoga group. The changes reported below are pre-post comparisons within each group. The yoga group showed a significant (p < 0.05; repeated measures ANOVA, post-hoc analyses) decrease in the LF power of HRV, rate of respiration and a significant increase in the HF power of HRV and in the pNN50.

Conclusion: The results suggest that yoga practice can shift the autonomic balance towards vagal dominance in patients with chronic low back pain associated with altered alignment of intervertebral discs.

Trial registration: The study is registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India ( CTRI/2012/11/003094 ) and can be accessed at.

Keywords: Chronic low back pain; Heart rate variability; Rate of respiration; Standard care; Yoga.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Trial profile of the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nambi GS, Inbasekaran D, Khuman R, Devi S, Shanmugananth, Jagannathan K. Changes in pain intensity and health related quality of life with Iyengar yoga in nonspecific chronic low back pain: A randomized controlled study. Int J Yoga. 2014;7:48-53. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berry ME, Chapple IT, Ginsberg JP, Gleichauf KJ, Meyer JA, Nagpal ML. Non-pharmacological intervention for chronic pain in veterans: a pilot study of heart rate variability biofeedback. Glob Adv Health Med. 2014;3:28–33. doi: 10.7453/gahmj.2013.075. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tracy LM, Ioannou L, Baker KS, Gibson SJ, Georgiou-Karistianis N, Giummarra MJ. Meta-analytic evidence for decreased heart rate variability in chronic pain implicating parasympathetic nervous system dysregulation. Pain. 2016;157:7–29. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000360. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Manjunath NK, Telles S. Effects of sirsasana (headstand) practice on autonomic and respiratory variables. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2003;47:34–42. - PubMed
    1. Raghuraj P, Ramakrishnan AG, Nagendra HR, Telles S. Effect of two selected yogic breathing techniques of heart rate variability. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1998;42:467–72. - PubMed

Publication types