YOGA IN CHRONIC NECK PAIN: AN EFFECTIVE COMPLEMENTARY THERAPEUTIC OPTION - A META - ANALYSIS

BACKGROUND Neck pain is recognized as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide. The severity of neck pain may lead to adverse outcomes related to individual's health and well-being that augment the risk of disability and may severely interfere in activities of daily living (ADL's) and participation in the society. AIM The aim of the quantitative analysis is to determine the effectiveness of yoga in relieving chronic neck pain and disability. METHODS Databases such as Google scholar, MEDLINE, PEDro, the Cochrane Library and Pub Med were explored from October-November for randomized controlled trials which assessed neck pain and related disability among chronic neck pain individuals. RESULTS Total six studies consisted of 298 participants with chronic neck pain. In risk of bias assessment, all six studies reported low risk of allocation and reporting bias, while one or two study disclosed high or unknown risk of bias in several domains. Moderate to large effect of -0.857 SMD at 95% CI suggest evidence in favor of the effectiveness of yoga; (Q 30.32, df 5, I2 83.51%) on a significant P-value of <0.0001. CONCLUSION The analysis of studies provided robust evidence with pool effect of -0.857 SMD at 95% CI (p<0.0001) concluded that yoga is an effectual and complementary method for the management of chronic or non-specific neck pain.