Impact of Mindfulness Yoga on Anxiety, Depression Among Patients With Parkinson Disease

Mindfulness yoga is better than conventional stretching for improving nonmotor and motor symptoms in people living with Parkinson disease, according to study findings published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

“Reduced anxiety and depression play a role in mediating the positive effects of the mindfulness yoga intervention,” wrote Jojo Yan Yan Kwok, PhD, RN, and coauthors.

While previous studies have demonstrated the positive effects of mind-body exercise in people with Parkinson disease, the potential influences of anxiety and depression were not understood. For this trial, researchers randomized a total 138 adults with Parkinson disease to 8 weekly sessions of either mindfulness yoga or conventional stretching and looked at symptom experiences, anxiety and depression, and health-related quality of life outcomes.

According to study authors, yoga significantly improved nonmotor and motor symptom experiences compared with stretching.

Changes in anxiety and depression were mediators in the associations between nonmotor experience and health-related quality of life, mediation analysis showed.

Meanwhile, changes in depression were the sole mediator between motor experience and health-related quality of life.

“To optimize health-related quality of life, rehabilitation should reinforce psychological care in addition to pharmacological treatments and physical relief of Parkinson’s disease symptoms,” wrote researchers.

Reference:
Kwok JYY, Choi EPH, Lee JJ, et al. Effects of mindfulness yoga versus conventional physical exercises on symptom experiences and health-related quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease: the potential mediating roles of anxiety and depression. Ann Behavl Med. Published online April 23, 2022. doi:10.1093/abm/kaac005