Strategies for evaluating self-efficacy and observed success in the practice of yoga postures for therapeutic indications: Methods from a yoga intervention for urinary incontinence among middle-aged and older women

Abstract

Background: Most clinical investigations involving yoga lack adequate description of the specific yoga elements, including physical postures. Few studies have measured self-efficacy regarding the performance of yoga postures or assessed observed success in performing postures. Methods: We developed and piloted several tools to evaluate self-efficacy and observed success in practicing yoga in the context of a randomized feasibility trial of an Iyengar-based yoga intervention for urinary incontinence in ambulatory women ≥50 years. At the end of the 12-week yoga intervention involving twice weekly group yoga classes and once weekly home practice, participants rated their self-efficacy in performing each of the included 15 yoga postures on a 5-point Likert scale. During the 12th week, an expert yoga consultant observed participants and rated their competency in performing postures on a 5-point scale. Participants completed a questionnaire about self-efficacy in adhering to home yoga practice. We examined the distribution of and correlations between scores on the above measures.