The Effectiveness of Yoga Therapy in Reducing Anxiety, Stress and Depression in Women with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive chronic neurologic disorder which topically causes the destruction and inflammation of the myelin sheath in the brain and the spinal cord. It also affects the patient's emotions and can be treated using complementary medicine. Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of yoga therapy in reducing anxiety, stress and depression in MS patients. Materials and Methods: The present experimental case-control study was conducted using a pretest-posttest approach. The statistical population comprised female MS patients in Rasht, Iran in 2016, 30 of whom were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. The experimental group underwent yoga therapy for three months. The two groups completed the depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21). All the data obtained were analyzed in SPSS-21. p