Sun Salutation yoga in patients with subacute low back pain: a feasibility study

Abstract

Introduction. The roles of yoga in improving symptoms in chronic low back pain (LBP) have been established. However, evidence of Sun Salutation yoga feasibility in subacute LBP is lacking. This feasibility study examined the adherence, safety, and potential effect size of Sun Salutation yoga in improving pain, functional disability, and quality of life among patients with subacute LBP. Methods. Overall, 20 patients with subacute LBP (65% females, age: 35 ± 10 years) were enrolled in a 6-week Sun Salutation program. The protocol adherence and safety were self-reported by participants during weekly monitoring. Pain was assessed with visual analogue scale (VAS) and numeric rating scale (NRS), functional disability with Oswestry Disability index (ODi) and Roland-Morris Questionnaire (RMQ), while quality of life with the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Pre- and post-intervention data were analysed by using the paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test per data distribution. Effect size was evaluated. Results. All patients adhered to the study protocol and no adverse effects were reported. Pain, functional disability, and quality of life improved significantly after the intervention. Effect sizes were very large for pain (3.87 and 3.97 for VAS and NRS), functional disability (1.94 and 3.24 for ODi and RMQ), and quality of life (2.34 and 4.62 for SF-12 physical and mental composite score). Conclusions. The adherence and safety of Sun Salutation yoga in subacute LBP patients were demonstrated, with large effect sizes for improving pain, functional disability, and quality of life. Randomized controlled trials are recommended to confirm the findings.