Home-Based yoga program for the patients suffering from malignant lymphoma during chemotherapy: A feasibility study

Gurpreet Kaur, Gaurav Prakash, Pankaj Malhotra, Sandhya Ghai, Sukhpal Kaur, Mahender Singh, Kulbeer Kaur

International Journal of Yoga 2018 11(3):249-254

Background: Yoga is proven beneficial in improving quality of life among breast cancer survivors receiving chemotherapy, but its effectiveness in lymphoma patients needs to be explored. As chemotherapy-induced neutropenia is very common among lymphoma patients, they are much prone to infections from the environment. Furthermore, trained yoga instructors are not available in every setting, so there is a need to develop home-based yoga program modules for lymphoma patients receiving chemotherapy. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the feasibility and safety of yogic exercises among lymphoma patients during chemotherapy. Subjects and Methods: An interventional, single-arm prepost design study was conducted at a tertiary health-care center. Patients suffering from malignant lymphoma (18–65 years) with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status from 0 to 2, planned to receive chemotherapy were administered a home-based yoga program over a period of 2 months from the start of chemotherapy. The primary outcome variables were retention rate, acceptance rate, safety, and adherence. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL), fatigue level, overall sleep quality, depression, anxiety level, and pain were also assessed. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics was used to see the feasibility and adherence. The paired t-test was used to compare various pre and postintervention outcome measures. Results: Fourteen patients (median age: 36 years, range13–65 years) of malignant lymphoma were enrolled in the study. Male-to-female ratio was 9:5. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients constituted 64%. The recruitment rate was 93%. Favorable retention (100%), acceptability (97%), adherence (78.6%), and no serious adverse events following yoga practice were reported. Improvement was also found in HRQOL, fatigue, sleep, depression, and anxiety. However, it needs further validation in a randomized study. Conclusion: Home-based yoga program is safe and feasible among the patients suffering from malignant lymphoma receiving chemotherapy.