Does yoga therapy improve psychopathology, social and occupational functioning, and quality of life in moderately ill schizophrenia patients?
Yoga therapy as an add-on to antipsychotic treatment significantly improves psychopathology, functioning, and quality of life compared to physical exercise in patients with schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE: Treatment of schizophrenia has remained unsatisfactory despite the availability of antipsychotics. This study examined the efficacy of yoga therapy (YT) as an add-on treatment to the ongoing antipsychotic treatment. METHOD: Sixty-one moderately ill schizophrenia patients were randomly assigned to YT (n = 31) and physical exercise therapy (PT; n = 30) for 4 months. They were assessed at baseline and 4 months after the start of intervention, by a rater who was blind to their group status. RESULTS: Forty-one subjects (YT = 21; PT = 20) were available at the end of 4 months for assessment. Subjects in the YT group had significantly less psychopathology than those in the PT group at the end of 4 months. They also had significantly greater social and occupational functioning and quality of life. CONCLUSION: Both non-pharmacological interventions contribute to reduction in symptoms, with YT having better efficacy.
Duraiswamy et al. (2007) studied this question.