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Yoga is effective for treating chronic pain in veterans with Gulf War Illness at long-term follow-up1,000.13 kB
Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Yoga is effective for treating chronic pain in veterans with Gulf War Illness at long-term follow-up
BMC complementary medicine and therapies, Vol.23, 319
2023
PMID: 37704984
Abstract
Background: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Gulf War Illness (GWI) recommend integrative health approaches such as yoga for relief from symptoms, yet little is known about the long-term efficacy of yoga in reducing symptoms of GWI. Here, we evaluated the long-term efficacy of yoga and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) chronic pain treatment in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 75 Veterans (57 men, 42–71 ± 7.1 years of age) with Gulf War Illness (GWI). Methods: Participants received either 10 weeks of yoga or 10 weeks of CBT for chronic pain. The primary outcome measures were pain severity, and pain interference (Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form). The secondary outcome measures were fatigue, as indicated by a measure of functional exercise capacity (6-Minute Walk Test), depression, autonomic symptom severity, and quality of life. Piecewise linear mixed models were used to examine study hypotheses. Results: Compared to the CBT group, yoga was associated with greater reductions in pain severity during the 6-month follow-up period (group × time interaction: b = 0.036, se = 0.014, p =.011). Although we did not find between-group differences in the other primary or secondary outcome measures during follow-up (p’s > 0.05), exploratory analyses revealed within-group improvements in pain interference, total pain (an experimental outcome variable which combines pain severity and interference), and fatigue in the yoga group (p’s < 0.05) but not in the CBT group. Conclusions: This is the first study to report long-term follow-up results of yoga as a treatment for GWI. Our results suggest that yoga may offer long-term efficacy in reducing pain, which is a core symptom of GWI. Trial registration: Secondary analyses of ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02378025. © 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
Details
- Title
- Yoga is effective for treating chronic pain in veterans with Gulf War Illness at long-term follow-up
- Authors/Creators
- Santiago Allende - Stanford UniversityDanielle C. Mathersul - Murdoch University, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative TherapeuticsJay R. Schulz-Heik - VA Palo Alto Health Care SystemTimothy J. Avery - VA Palo Alto Health Care SystemLouise Mahoney - VA Palo Alto Health Care SystemPeter J. Bayley - VA Palo Alto Health Care System
- Publication Details
- BMC complementary medicine and therapies, Vol.23, 319
- Publisher
- BioMed Central
- Grant note
- This work was supported by a CDMRP/DoD Gulf War Illness Research Program Innovative Treatment Evaluation Award [grant number 11488016].
- Identifiers
- 991005606970107891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Psychology; Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
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- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.129 Back pain
- 1.129.1191 Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
- Web Of Science research areas
- Integrative & Complementary Medicine
- ESI research areas
- Clinical Medicine