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Systematic review, 2022

Can yoga effectively manage PMS?

Yes, yoga appears beneficial for managing PMS overall. Benefits were seen for emotional and behavioral aspects of PMS, though not for physical symptoms.

Strong study design People with PMS (14 studies reviewed, 11 analyzed quantitatively)

What they did

Systematic review and meta-analysis. Searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. Included 14 studies for review, 11 analyzed quantitatively. Pre-defined selection criteria used. Both numerical and descriptive analysis performed.

What they found

Yoga was found to be beneficial in managing PMS overall. When examining different categories of PMS symptoms separately, yoga was beneficial for all sub-domains of PMS except the physical sub-domain.

What it means for you

Yoga may help emotional and behavioral PMS symptoms like mood changes and irritability but appears less effective for physical symptoms like bloating or breast tenderness. Limitations include high variability in study design, yoga regimes, and outcome measurements between studies, as well as the possibility of publication bias.

14

studies identified

11

studies used for quantitative analysis

About the study

Original title
Evaluation of the effectiveness of yoga in management of premenstrual syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors
Pal A, Nath B, Paul S et al.
Journal
Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology
Year
2022
Study design
Systematic review
What was tested
Yoga as therapeutic intervention

Topics