Yoga for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Integrative Medicine
• Clinical Research

Background:

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder affecting 10-20% of the global population.
• Existing research on yoga's efficacy for IBS symptoms presents inconsistent findings.
• A comprehensive review is necessary to synthesize current evidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating yoga's impact on IBS symptoms.
• To assess yoga's effect on gastrointestinal symptom severity, anxiety, depression, and quality of life in IBS patients.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, WOS, SCOPUS, and Cochrane up to October 2024.
• Meta-analysis of continuous variables using standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
• Heterogeneity assessed using the Chi-squared test and I2 statistics; PROSPERO ID: CRD42024611633.

Main Results:

• Eleven RCTs involving 535 patients (adults and adolescents) were included.
• Yoga showed no statistically significant difference compared to control groups in reducing gastrointestinal symptom severity (SMD -0.66, P=0.12).
• No significant improvements were observed for anxiety (SMD -0.39, P=0.09), depression (SMD -0.46, P=0.19), or quality of life (SMD 0.53, P=0.25).

Conclusions:

• Current evidence suggests yoga does not effectively reduce IBS symptom severity, anxiety, or depression, nor improve quality of life.
• High methodological heterogeneity and risk of bias in included RCTs limit definitive conclusions.
• Yoga cannot be recommended for IBS treatment pending further large-scale, high-quality RCTs.