Dance and yoga reduced functional abdominal pain in young girls: A randomized controlled trial

Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) affect children, especially girls, all over the world. The evidence for existing treatments is mixed, and effective accessible treatments are needed. Dance, a rhythmic cardio-respiratory activity, combined with yoga, which enhances relaxation and focus, may provide physiological and psychological benefits that could help to ease pain.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a dance and yoga intervention on maximum abdominal pain in 9- to 13-year- old girls with FAPDs.

This study was a prospective randomized controlled trial with 121 participants recruited from outpatient clinics as well as the general public. The intervention group participated in dance and yoga twice weekly for 8 months; controls received standard care. Abdominal pain, as scored on the Faces Pain Scale-Revised, was recorded in a pain diary. A linear mixed model was used to estimate the outcomes and effect sizes.

Dance and yoga were superior to standard health care alone, with a medium to high between-group effect size and significantly greater pain reduction (b = -1.29, p = 0.002) at the end of the intervention.

An intervention using dance and yoga is likely a feasible and beneficial complementary treatment to standard health care for 9- to 13-year-old girls with FAPDs.

FAPDs affect children, especially girls, all over the world. The negative consequences such as absence from school, high consumption of medical care and depression pose a considerable burden on children and their families and effective treatments are needed. This is the first study examining a combined dance/yoga intervention for young girls with FAPDs and the result showed a reduction of abdominal pain. These findings contribute with new evidence in the field of managing FAPDs in a vulnerable target group.