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Effects of Yoga Versus Passive Modality on Pain, Disability, Salivary Cortisol Concentrations, Brain- Derived Neurotropic Factor, Heart Rate Variability and Immune Functions Among Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of Yoga Versus Passive Modality on Pain, Disability, Salivary Cortisol Concentrations, Brain- Derived Neurotropic Factor, Heart Rate Variability and Immune Functions Among Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02244645
Enrollment
86
Registered
2014-09-19
Start date
2013-12-31
Completion date
2015-11-30
Last updated
2014-09-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Keywords

Low back pain, physical therapy, yoga.

Brief summary

This study may clarify a potential promising mechanism and clearest evidence to support the value of yoga as a therapeutic option for reducing chronic low back pain.

Detailed description

Low back pain is a common problem, with 70-80% of adults were bothered in their lives, which influence the work and quality of life. Yoga is one of the most popular complementary and alternative medicine for back pain, and this mind-body intervention has increasingly chosen to effectively treat chronic pain. This is a parallel-arm randomized controlled trial which will compare the outcomes of participants assigned to the experimental treatment group (yoga, with 36 participants) with those assigned to a passive modality control group for 3 months (12 weeks). Each group will receive regular 60-minutes yoga classes or passive modality twice a week. The investigators confer the difference of pain relief and functional life improvement between passive modality and yoga. The latter is expected to have positive effects on Chronic low back pain. The effects and possible mechanisms of action responsible for passive modality and yoga on salivary cortisol concentrations, inflammatory cytokines and autonomic nervous tone will be also evaluated. The study's primary endpoints are (1) back pain relief, (2) functional life improved, (3) Salivary cortisol concentrations decreased, (4) brain-derived neurotrophic factor improved, (5) heart rate variability improved, and (6) immune function improved significantly among the participants in the experimental group than the control group. This study may clarify a potential promising mechanism and clearest evidence to support the value of yoga as a therapeutic option for reducing chronic low back pain. If the results are positive, clinicians will attain more options for treating patient with chronic low back. Furthermore, the positive results from this study will help focus more future in-depth research on the most promising potential mechanism of action identifies.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALpassive modality

Passive modality control group will receive regular 40-minutes rehabilitation twice a week for 3 months.

BEHAVIORALYoga treatment

Yoga treatment group will receive regular 60-minutes yoga classes twice a week for 4 months.

Sponsors

Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Patient with idiopathic low back pain of more than 12 weeks.

Exclusion criteria

* Current pregnancy * Diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, failed back syndrome and other chronic illnesses. * Inability to participate yoga exercise regularly. * Accept steroid treatment within 3 months. * BMI \> 30

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Back pain relief and functional life improvedChange from baseline in back pain and life quality at 6 monthsBack pain relief and functional life improved will assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) and Roland-Morris disability questionnaire at five different times: (1)baseline data : before intervention, (2)outcome data: 3, 6, 9 and 12 week yoga exercise, right after exercise measure post-test.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Salivary cortisol concentrations decreasedChange from baseline in salivary cortisol at 6 monthsCortisol concentrations will be measured at three different times: (1)baseline data : before intervention, (2)outcome data: 6 and 12 week yoga exercise, right after exercise measure post-test.
Heart rate variability improvedChange from baseline in heart rate variability at 6 monthsHeart rate variability will be measured at three different times: (1)baseline data : before intervention, (2)outcome data: 6 and 12 week yoga exercise, right after exercise measure post-test.
Immune function improvedChange from baseline in immune function at 6 monthsImmune function will be assessed by blood analysis including lymphocyte subpopulations (Th1/ Th2/ Treg/ Th17), polarization (T-bet/ Gata-3/ Foxp3/ RORrt), its related cytokines (Th1: IL-12/ IFN-γ/ IL-27; Th2: IL-4/ IL-13/ IL-25; Th17: IL-17A/ IL-6/ IL-21; Treg: TGF/ IL-10), lipid prolife and C-reactive protein at at three different times: (1)baseline data : before intervention, (2)outcome data: 6 and 12 week yoga exercise, right after exercise measure post-test.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor improvedChange from baseline in brain-derived neurotrophic factor at 6 monthsBrain-derived neurotrophic factor will be assessed by blood analysis at at three different times: (1)baseline data : before intervention, (2)outcome data: 6 and 12 week yoga exercise, right after exercise measure post-test.

Countries

Taiwan

Contacts

Primary ContactShu-Hui Yeh, PhD
yehshuhui@gmail.com

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026