Role of Yoga on Sleep and Quality of Life among Elderly.

Abstract

In the elderly, the majority of health problems are addressed by health care. However, sleep and quality of life in old age are overlooked while managing old age challenges. The present study aimed to do a literary review to find the role of Yoga on sleep and quality of life among the elderly and to conduct a prospective pilot study aimed to assess the sleep quality and quality of life among elderly with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In a thorough review on Google scholar and pub med, we come across a total of 20 clinical trials which assessed sleep and/or quality of life.  In the prospective pilot study, twenty-seven community-dwelling elderly (aged 62.22±6.01, male-14) having MCI were recruited. Weekly, six sessions of Integrated Yoga (IY) were administered to all the participants for eight weeks. Each session was of 60 minutes. Assessment for MCI was done by using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Participants were assessed before and after intervention for change in sleep quality by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and quality of life by Quality of life scale (CASP-19). A Shapiro-Wilk test shown significant improvement in Sleep quality W(26) = -3.76, P= 0.001, and quality of life W(26)= -4.29, P=0.001 at the end of eight weeks, compared to baseline scores. We conclude that Yoga intervention is an effective and potential tool to enhance sleep quality and quality of life among the elderly. However, generalizations of results have limitations. Further studies with strong methodology, large sample size and active control group, and objective outcomes might add value to this work.