Effects of yoga on chronic neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: The aim of this review was to systematically assess and meta-analyze the effectiveness of yoga in relieving chronic neck pain. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and IndMED were screened through January 2017 for randomized controlled trials assessing neck pain intensity and/or neck pain-related disability in chronic neck pain patients. Secondary outcome measures included quality of life, mood, and safety. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Results: Three studies on 188 patients with chronic non-specific neck pain comparing yoga to usual care were included. Two studies had overall low risk of bias; and one had high or unclear risk of bias for several domains. Evidence for short-term effects was found for neck pain intensity (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.18, -0.75; P<0.001), neck pain-related disability (SMD = -0.97; 95% CI = -1.44, -0.50; P<0.001), quality of life (SMD = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.17, 0.197; P=0.005), and mood (SMD = -1.02; 95% CI = -1.38, -0.65; P<0.001). Effects were robust against potential methodological bias and did not differ between different intervention subgroups. In the two studies that included safety data, no serious adverse events occurred. Conclusion: Yoga has short-term effects on chronic neck pain, its related disability, quality of life, and mood suggesting that yoga might be a good treatment option.