Question: In adults with psychosis, how effective is yoga, compared to treatment as usual, in improving patient outcomes?

Answer:

Evidence identified by one good quality systematic review was found to be insufficient to support recommendations on the use of yoga in patients with schizophrenia; meta-analyses included in this review showed no significant difference in effect on symptoms between yoga and usual care, or between yoga and exercise. Two additional RCTs, both with significant methodological weaknesses, provided some contradictory evidence supporting an improvement in symptoms for patients with psychosis/schizophrenia treated with yoga compared to those treated with exercise or a waiting list control group. All studies included in this summary assessed the effectiveness of yoga as an adjunct to pharmacological therapy. Given the apparent contradictions in the available data, it is not currently possible to draw firm conclusions regarding the effectiveness of yoga in patients with psychosis. Further large, high quality RCTs are needed to inform this question, particularly for patients with diagnoses other than schizophrenia. An up-date to the systematic review and metaanalyses,
including recently published studies, may also be informative.