Abstract
Objectives
To systematically assess the prevalence of yoga-associated injuries and other adverse
events in epidemiological studies.
Design
Systematic review of observational studies.
Methods
Medline/PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and IndMed were searched through October
2016 for epidemiological studies assessing the prevalence of adverse events of yoga
practice or comparing the risk of any adverse events between yoga practitioners and
non-yoga practitioners.
Results
Nine observational studies with a total 9129 yoga practitioners and 9903 non-yoga
practitioners were included. Incidence proportion of adverse events during a yoga
class was 22.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 21.1%–24.3%); 12-months prevalence was 4.6% (95%CI = 3.8%–5.4%), and lifetime prevalence ranged from 21.3% (95%CI = 19.7%–22.9%) to 61.8% (95%CI = 52.8%–70.8%) of yoga practitioners. Serious adverse events occurred in 1.9% (95%CI = 1.4%–2.4%). The most common adverse events related to the musculoskeletal system;
the most common injuries were sprains and strains. Compared to non-yoga practitioners,
yoga practitioners had a comparable risk of falls (odds ratio [OR] = 0.90; 95%CI = 0.76–1.08), and falls-related injuries (OR = 1.04; 95%CI = 0.83–1.29), and higher risk of meniscus injuries (OR = 1.72; 95%CI = 1.23–2.41).
Conclusions
A considerable proportion of yoga practitioners experienced injuries or other adverse
events; however most were mild and transient and risks were comparable to those of
non-yoga practitioners. There is no need to discourage yoga practice for healthy people.
People with serious acute or chronic illnesses should seek medical advice before practicing
yoga.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 19, 2017
Accepted:
August 15,
2017
Received in revised form:
August 8,
2017
Received:
November 9,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
