Abstract Background/Aims Arthritis places a growing global burden on both physical and mental health. Systematic reviews suggest that yoga, an ancient mind-body discipline, shows promise in easing symptoms and improving well-being. Despite this potential, few people with arthritis take it up. No prior synthesis has explained what drives some patients to embrace yoga while others avoid it. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to address that gap by synthesising existing evidence to uncover the barriers and facilitators that shape yoga practice in arthritis care. Methods JBI methodological guidance for qualitative systematic reviews was followed. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, PsycInfo, AMED, and Web of Science were searched to identify published studies, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses for unpublished studies. Databases were searched from inception to 07 November 2024 without language restrictions. Two reviewers independently conducted study screening, methodological quality assessment, and data extraction. Data were synthesised using a meta-aggregative approach. Results Of 1330 identified records, nine articles, representing eight studies, were included. All studies were conducted in high-income countries (the USA, UK, and New Zealand), with a majority of female participants. Methodological quality ranged from moderate to high; six studies met at least seven of the ten quality assessment criteria. A total of 112 findings were extracted from the articles and grouped into 20 categories based on similarity in meaning. These were formulated into five synthesised findings: (i) Yoga, arthritis, and the body: the anticipated and experienced impacts of yoga on physical well-being influenced yoga practice; (ii) Yoga, arthritis, and the mind: levels of motivation and perceived impact on mental well-being influenced yoga practice; (iii) Yoga, arthritis, and the mind-body impact: yoga’s mind-body benefits supported coping with arthritis and encouraged continued practice; (iv) Yoga, arthritis, and session accessibility and structure: factors related to session accessibility and structure influenced engagement with yoga; and (v) Yoga, arthritis, and the session environment: a supportive social environment in yoga sessions impacted yoga practice. Conclusion This systematic review synthesised a range of barriers and facilitators to yoga practice among people living with arthritis. People recognise yoga’s physical, mental, and mind-body benefits, yet barriers related to accessibility, session structure, and social environment often limit participation. Importantly, facilitators outweighed barriers, suggesting strong potential for yoga to be integrated into arthritis care. For clinicians, the next step may be to actively support safe, accessible, and culturally sensitive yoga options by signposting patients to credible arthritis-specific yoga programmes. For patient organisations, a next step might be to work with yoga providers to adapt sessions for physical limitations and to encourage social and peer support within group settings to boost engagement. Future clinical pathways could consider embedding yoga as a complementary option alongside conventional treatments. Disclosure I. Biswas: None. P. Egwumba: None. C. Evans: None. K. Kumar: None. S. Lewis: None. K. Chattopadhyay: None.
Biswas et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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