A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Yoga in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Preliminary Findings

Introduction: Twenty-five percent of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is diagnosed in pediatrics with peak onset in the pre-adolescent years during a time of great psychosocial growth. IBD adds stressors of a chronic disease with unpredictable symptoms. Health-related quality of Life (HRQOL) may be impaired by pain, school absences, and the chronic nature of IBD. Yoga may be well-suited as an adjunct to conventional IBD therapy to decrease stress and improve HRQOL. There have not been any studies to date looking at the role of yoga in IBD. The aim of this study is to determine if a structured yoga program, in addition to standard medical therapy, improves HRQOL and self-efficacy in pediatric patients recently diagnosed with IBD. Methods: Newly diagnosed patients 11-17 years old were randomized to either the yoga program or a waitlist control group. At 3 months from diagnosis, the study group participated in 12 weeks of yoga in addition to standard medical therapy. The control group continued to receive standard medical therapy and at 6 months from diagnosis was offered yoga participation. At 3 and 6 months from diagnosis, questionnaires were completed by both groups to measure HRQOL (PedsQL total score) and self-efficacy. Patients were required to complete at least 9 of 12 yoga classes. Demographic and disease-specific data included age, gender and disease type (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis). Descriptive statistics were performed for the study sample. Continuous variables were summarized using average and standard deviation and proportions were used for categorical variables. Total PedsQL and self-efficacy scores were compared in the control group and yoga group using the Mann-Whitney U test. Positive differences in scores indicated improvement. Results: A total of 12 patients were included: 6 in the yoga and 6 in the control group. Average age was 13 years (SD1.6), with 67% females, and 67% had Crohn’s disease. Overall median change was 25 for HRQOL and 1.5 for self-efficacy scores. Median change in total PEDSQL scores was 100.0 in the yoga group vs. only 12.5 in the wait list group; despite the trend, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.52). The change in self-efficacy scores in the 2 groups also was not significantly different between groups (2.5 for yoga vs. 1.5 for wait list; p=0.37). Conclusion: A formal yoga program in newly diagnosed pediatric patients with IBD showed trends toward improvement in HRQOL and self-efficacy, although not reaching statistical significance. Further study with a larger sample size will investigate if disease activity scores will change after yoga participation and determine if yoga will improve quality of life in this population. Disclosure - Madelana Ferrara and Madeline Marchell are paid to to teach the study subjects yoga.