Carson, J. W., Carson, K. M., Porter, L. S., Keefe, F. J., Shaw, H., & Miller, J. M. (2007). Yoga for women with metastatic breast cancer: results from a pilot study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 33, 331–341.
The Yoga of Awareness Program included eight weekly, 120-minute, sessions, including gentle yoga postures, breathing exercises, meditation, didactic presentations, and group interchange. Patients were also encouraged to practice at home.
Duke Pain Prevention Program and Treatment Program Office
The study used an exploratory, pre-/post design; no control group was used.
Those who withdrew had lower fatigue, which was interpreted as less motivation to participate. No significant change occurred in fatigue intercept (slope was not reported). There was a trend in which increased yoga practice was associated with decreased fatigue (p = 0.07). Lagged analysis showed that increased practice was predictive of decreased fatigue the next day. Participants reported that the program was successful to manage fatigue (mean = 7.6).
No adverse events were reported. The intervention was led by a certified yoga instructor.