Effects of yoga practice on stress-related symptoms in the aftermath of an earthquake: A community-based controlled trial

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of an integrated hatha yoga practice on perceived stress and stress-related symptoms in the aftermath of an earthquake. Design and setting: Inhabitants, aged 20-67 years, from highly exposed earthquake areas of two villages in South Iceland were offered to participate in a yoga program subsequent to an earthquake. Sixty-six individuals were self-selected into the study and divided by residential convenience into an experimental group (n= 31) and a waiting list control group (n= 35). Intervention: The yoga program was conducted twice a week for six weeks, in normal situations among the inhabitants in the community. Main outcome measures: Several validated questionnaires assessing stress and stress-related symptoms, posttraumatic symptoms, depression, anxiety and health related quality of life were administered at pre- and post-intervention. Results: Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed differences between the experimental group and waiting list control group on sleep quality (p= .03) and social relations (p= .04). These differences did not prevail at Bonferroni correction for multiple testing (at alpha level of .005). Participants in both groups showed significant improvements in stress and some stress-related symptoms such as sleep, concentration, well-being, quality of life, depression and anxiety from pre- to post-intervention. Conclusions: The data from this small study show no statistically significant improvement of an integrated hatha yoga program above and beyond waiting list control, following exposure to an earthquake. However, the observed trend toward improved sleep quality and social relations deserve further exploration in larger effectiveness studies on the impact of Hatha yoga on recovery after natural disaster.