Designing and validation of a yoga-based module for obesity with metabolic comorbidities

Obesity is a condition of increased adipose tissue in the body, which is commonly associated with various comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, back pain, and many others. Yoga modules have been designed and validated for obesity; however, we couldn't find any specific module for metabolic syndrome, a condition which includes obesity, diabetes mellitus type 2 and/or hypertension together. Keeping this in view, our study aimed to develop and validate a specific generic yoga-based intervention module for metabolic syndrome patients.

A yoga module was designed based on traditional and contemporary yoga literature as well as published studies. We derived the yoga practices for the module, from these yoga texts and research evidence were already available. The yoga module was sent to 40 yoga experts for their validation.

Twenty-two experts gave their opinion on the usefulness of a yoga module for patients with metabolic syndrome with some suggestions. Of these experts, 73% were males, and 27% were females. Yoga therapy practices with content validity ratio (CVR) >0.08 were included in the final module. In total, 86% (31 of 36 items) of the items in the initial module were retained.

A specific yoga-based module for metabolic syndrome was designed and validated by experts. Further studies are needed to confirm the efficacy and clinical utility of the module.Additional clinical validation is suggested.