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
Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Dec 31;29(1):2364486.
doi: 10.1080/10872981.2024.2364486. Epub 2024 Jun 11.

The psychosomatic impact of Yoga in medical education: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Sabyasachi Maity  1 , Raman Abbaspour  2 , Stephan Bandelow  1 , Sehaj Pahwa  3 , Taraneh Alahdadi  3 , Sharan Shah  3 , Praghosh Chhetri  4 , Ameet Kumar Jha  5 , Shreya Nauhria  6 , Reetuparna Nath  7 , Narendra Nayak  8 , Samal Nauhria  9
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The psychosomatic impact of Yoga in medical education: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Sabyasachi Maity et al. Med Educ Online. .

Abstract

Non-clinical approaches such as meditation, yoga, and mindfulness are popular traditional therapeutical interventions adopted by many educational institutions to improve the physical and mental well-being of learners. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of yoga intervention in improving cardiopulmonary parameters such as blood pressure, heart rate, pulmonary function tests and psychosomatic symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress in medical and dental students. Using the PRISMA protocol, a search from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Embase resulted in 304 relevant articles. After screening the title and abstracts, 47 papers were analyzed thoroughly and included in the qualitative analysis. 18 articles with homogenous statistical data on physiology and psychological parameters were included for meta-analysis. In comparison to the control group, the study showed a significant reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP: 6.82 mmHg, z = -3.06, p = 0.002), diastolic blood pressure (DBP: 2.92 mmHg, z = -2.22, p = 0.03), and heart rate (HR: 2.55 beats/min, z = -2.77, p = 0.006). Additionally, data from 4 studies yielded a significant overall effect of a stress reduction of 0.77 on standardized assessments due to the yoga intervention (z = 5.29, p < 0.0001). Lastly, the results also showed a significant (z = -2.52, p = 0.01) reduction of 1.2 in standardized anxiety tests in intervention group compared to the control. The findings offer promising prospects for medical educators globally, encouraging them to consider reformation and policymaking in medical curricula to enhance academic success and improve the overall quality of life for medical students worldwide.

Keywords: Anxiety; Yoga; academic performance; medical education; medical student; meta-analysis; physiology; stress; systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA protocol of literature search process.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Distribution of Articles Across Investigation Categories. A total of 47 articles were included in our analysis.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The Meta-analysis on the Effect of Yoga on systolic SBP (A), DBP (B), and HR (C) Among Medical and Dental Students.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
The Meta-analysis on the Effect of Yoga on Stress (4A) and Anxiety (4B) Among Medical and Dental Students.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Clarke TC, Barnes PM, Black LI, et al. Use of Yoga, Meditation, and Chiropractors Among U.S. Adults aged 18 and over. NCHS Data Brief. 2018;325:1–18. - PubMed
    1. Mohammad A, Thakur P, Kumar R, et al. Biological markers for the effects of yoga as a complementary and alternative medicine. J Complement Integr Med. 2019;16. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2018-0094 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wang F, Szabo A.. Effects of yoga on stress among healthy adults: A systematic review. Altern Ther Health Med. 2020;26(4):AT6214. - PubMed
    1. Cahill SM, Egan BE, Seber J.. Activity- and Occupation-Based Interventions to Support Mental Health, Positive Behavior, and Social Participation for Children and Youth: A Systematic Review. Am J Occup Ther Off Publ Am Occup Ther Assoc. 2020;74(2):p74021800201–p740218002028. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2020.038687 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zou L, Sasaki JE, Wei G-X, et al. Effects of mind–body exercises (tai chi/yoga) on heart rate variability parameters and perceived stress: A systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Clin Med. 2018;7(11):404. doi: 10.3390/jcm7110404 - DOI - PMC - PubMed