The Efficacy of Yoga as an Adjunctive Therapy to Standard Multidisciplinary Care in the Treatment of Female Patients Presenting with Cognitive Eating Disorder Symptoms
Abstract
Introduction: Current treatment of patients exhibiting cognitive eating disorder symptoms is standard multidisciplinary care (SMDC) involving behavioral therapy, medical management and dietetics. Because these symptoms often persist or relapse despite treatment, research has begun to explore adjunctive therapies like yoga for this population. This review will explore seven studies in order to analyze the effect of yoga (I) on cognitive eating disorder symptoms (O) in teenage and adult females (P) when added to SMDC compared to symptom reduction with SMDC alone (C).
Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Academic Search Ultimate and Google Scholar starting November 2018. Seven studies were chosen based on their sample population, intervention techniques, and study design, and their strengths and weaknesses were analyzed.
Results: All studies demonstrated yoga’s ability to induce greater improvements in at least one cognitive eating disorder symptom when added to SMDC. Six studies found improvements in global Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) scores. Other measurements showed statistically significant differences in females’ weight and shape concerns, anxiety, depression, food preoccupation, effect on pre-meal affect, binge eating severity, ideas of self, and mindfulness. Six studies found yoga to cause no statistically significant change in BMI in all eating disorder types.
Discussion: Although the studies suggest yoga is a beneficial and safe adjunctive therapy, the evidence generated from them alone does not hold enough statistical power to confirm its efficacy. The studies had relatively small sample sizes, short durations, and short follow-ups (if any). There was a large degree of variability in the populations being studied, the yoga interventions administered and the SMDC provided in each study.
Conclusion: This review provides promising results that should encourage further research to confirm yoga’s usefulness in reducing cognitive eating disorder symptoms. Providers should be cognizant of upcoming trials with larger sample sizes and longer durations as well as those determining the safest yoga prescription for different types of eating disorders. Providers must also consider an individual’s comorbidities and medical stability prior to recommending yoga to this population.
The Efficacy of Yoga as an Adjunctive Therapy to Standard Multidisciplinary Care in the Treatment of Female Patients Presenting with Cognitive Eating Disorder Symptoms
Introduction: Current treatment of patients exhibiting cognitive eating disorder symptoms is standard multidisciplinary care (SMDC) involving behavioral therapy, medical management and dietetics. Because these symptoms often persist or relapse despite treatment, research has begun to explore adjunctive therapies like yoga for this population. This review will explore seven studies in order to analyze the effect of yoga (I) on cognitive eating disorder symptoms (O) in teenage and adult females (P) when added to SMDC compared to symptom reduction with SMDC alone (C).
Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Academic Search Ultimate and Google Scholar starting November 2018. Seven studies were chosen based on their sample population, intervention techniques, and study design, and their strengths and weaknesses were analyzed.
Results: All studies demonstrated yoga’s ability to induce greater improvements in at least one cognitive eating disorder symptom when added to SMDC. Six studies found improvements in global Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) scores. Other measurements showed statistically significant differences in females’ weight and shape concerns, anxiety, depression, food preoccupation, effect on pre-meal affect, binge eating severity, ideas of self, and mindfulness. Six studies found yoga to cause no statistically significant change in BMI in all eating disorder types.
Discussion: Although the studies suggest yoga is a beneficial and safe adjunctive therapy, the evidence generated from them alone does not hold enough statistical power to confirm its efficacy. The studies had relatively small sample sizes, short durations, and short follow-ups (if any). There was a large degree of variability in the populations being studied, the yoga interventions administered and the SMDC provided in each study.
Conclusion: This review provides promising results that should encourage further research to confirm yoga’s usefulness in reducing cognitive eating disorder symptoms. Providers should be cognizant of upcoming trials with larger sample sizes and longer durations as well as those determining the safest yoga prescription for different types of eating disorders. Providers must also consider an individual’s comorbidities and medical stability prior to recommending yoga to this population.