Effects of yoga versus hydrotherapy training on health-related quality of life and exercise capacity in patients with heart failure: A randomized controlled study.


Author: Hägglund E1, Hagerman I1, Dencker K1, Strömberg A2,3,4

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>1 Department of Cardiology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Sweden.

<sup>2</sup>2 Division of Nursing Science, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden.

<sup>3</sup>3 Department of Cardiology, Linköping University, Sweden.

<sup>4</sup>4 UCI program in Nursing Science, University of California Irvine, USA.
Conference/Journal: Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs.
Date published: 2017 Jan 1
Other:
 Volume ID: 1474515117690297   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1177/1474515117690297. [Epub ahead of print]   ,  Word Count: 273  
    AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine whether yoga and hydrotherapy training had an equal effect on the health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure and to compare the effects on exercise capacity, clinical outcomes, and symptoms of anxiety and depression between and within the two groups.



METHODS: The design was a randomized controlled non-inferiority study. A total of 40 patients, 30% women (mean±SD age 64.9±8.9 years) with heart failure were randomized to an intervention of 12 weeks, either performing yoga or training with hydrotherapy for 45-60 minutes twice a week. Evaluation at baseline and after 12 weeks included self-reported health-related quality of life, a six-minute walk test, a sit-to-stand test, clinical variables, and symptoms of anxiety and depression.



RESULTS: Yoga and hydrotherapy had an equal impact on quality of life, exercise capacity, clinical outcomes, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Within both groups, exercise capacity significantly improved (hydrotherapy p=0.02; yoga p=0.008) and symptoms of anxiety decreased (hydrotherapy p=0.03; yoga p=0.01). Patients in the yoga group significantly improved their health as rated by EQ-VAS ( p=0.004) and disease-specific quality of life in the domains symptom frequency ( p=0.03), self-efficacy ( p=0.01), clinical summary as a combined measure of symptoms and social factors ( p=0.05), and overall summary score ( p=0.04). Symptoms of depression were decreased in this group ( p=0.005). In the hydrotherapy group, lower limb muscle strength improved significantly ( p=0.01).



CONCLUSIONS: Yoga may be an alternative or complementary option to established forms of exercise training such as hydrotherapy for improvement in health-related quality of life and may decrease depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure.



KEYWORDS: Anxiety; depression; exercise training; health-related quality of life; heart failure



PMID: 28128646  DOI: 10.1177/1474515117690297