Efficacy of a Customized Yoga Therapy Module for Individuals with Early Parkinsonism: A Non-Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Protocol

Introduction: Neurological disorders are increasingly prevalent among older adults in India, often resulting in significant motor and non-motor impairments. There is a rising rates of elder care homes and the aging population, burdens the Parkinson’s disease (PD) rising, particularly in countries with low- and middle-income. In response to this burden of neurodegenerative conditions including PD evidence-based, culturally adapted interventions such as yoga promise to offer holistic benefits. Methods: A controlled clinical trial will evaluate the efficacy of a customized yoga therapy module for early parkinsonism by targeting motor and non-motor symptoms. We aimed to recruit 130 participants in a 1:1 ratio, of 45–80 years from elder care homes around Mangalore, India, using cluster sampling. Both groups will receive geriatric physiotherapy as standard of care, and the intervention group will receive 1-h yoga sessions, 5 days/week, for 24 weeks. Outcomes of quality of life, cognition, postural stability, gastrointestinal dysfunction symptoms, and sleep will be assessed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks and analyzed using SPSS v25. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee (YEC2 Protocol No.: YEC2/2024/130) and registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India – CTRI/2025/07/090595. Conclusion: The Department of Geriatric Medicine will initiate PD screening at the designated study sites. A symptom-targeted, participant-specific, customized yoga module was developed, validated, and evaluated by experts.