The feasibility and benefits of a 12‐week yoga intervention for pediatric cancer out‐patients. Issue 10 (17th June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wurz, Amanda; Chamorro‐Vina, Carolina; Guilcher, Gregory M.T.; Schulte, Fiona; Culos‐Reed, S. Nicole
• Is Part Of: Pediatric blood & cancer. Volume 61:Issue 10(2014:Oct.)
• Page Start: 1828
• Page End: 1834
• Publication Date: 2014-06-17
• Subjects: Tumors in children -- Periodicals; Blood -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Cancer in children -- Periodicals; 618.92
• DOI: 10.1002/pbc.25096
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1545-5009

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="pbc25096-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Increasing rates of survival present a new set of psychosocial and physical challenges for children undergoing treatment for cancer. Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be a safe and effective strategy to mitigate the significant burden of cancer and its treatments, with yoga increasingly gaining recognition as a gentle alternative. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and benefits of a 12‐week community‐based yoga intervention on health‐related quality of life (HRQL), select physical fitness outcomes and PA levels (PAL).</p> </sec> <sec id="pbc25096-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Procedure</title> <p>Eight pediatric cancer out‐patients (4 male; 4 female; M<sub>age</sub><italic> = </italic>11.88, SD<italic> </italic>= 4.26) participated in the 12‐week intervention consisting of supervised yoga sessions 2 times/week. Participants (patients and parent proxies) completed measures assessing HRQL, physical fitness and PAL at baseline and post‐intervention.</p> </sec> <sec id="pbc25096-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Rates of recruitment, retention, attendance and adverse events indicated the program was feasible. Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests indicated significant improvements for patient (<italic>P</italic> = 0.02) and parent reported HRQL (<italic>P</italic> = 0.03), functional mobility (<italic>P</italic> = 0.01), hamstring flexibility (left, <italic>P</italic> = 0.01 and right <italic>P</italic> = 0.02), and total PAL (<italic>P</italic> = 0.02) pre to post intervention.</p> </sec> <sec id="pbc25096-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>This 12‐week community‐based yoga intervention was feasible and provides preliminary evidence for the benefits of yoga on HRQL, physical fitness and PAL in pediatric cancer out‐patients. In a population where sedentary behavior and the associated co‐morbidities are a growing concern, these results promote the continued exploration of yoga programming. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014; 61:1828–1834. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </sec> </abstract>