Yoga-Nidra as a complementary therapy for reducing psychological distress and enhancing quality of life in cancer patients: A randomized controlled trial

IF 4 3区医学 Q1 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Complementary therapies in medicine Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-03 DOI:10.1016/j.ctim.2025.103313

Mili Baruah , CU Poovamma , Prasad Narayanan , P. Harish , Rithika Keshav , Natesh Babu , Mangesh Pandey

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Abstract

Purpose

Intensive cancer treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, are physically and emotionally taxing, often causing psychological distress and reduced quality of life. Complementary therapies are increasingly explored to mitigate these effects. Yoga-Nidra, a non-invasive, low-cost, low-effort relaxation technique, may benefit patients with limited mobility during treatment. This study examines its impact on psychological distress and quality of life in cancer patients.

Methods

This randomized controlled trial included 40 cancer patients (ages 25–55) undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, hormone, or immunotherapy. After informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to the Yoga-Nidra (n = 20) or control group (n = 20). The intervention involved 25-minute sessions, twice daily, five days a week for one month. Psychological distress and quality of life, including functioning, symptoms, and global health were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the NCCN Distress Thermometer and EORTC QLQ-C30.

Results

Yoga-Nidra demonstrated significant improvements over the control group across multiple quality-of-life domains, including psychological distress (p = .001), global health (p = .010), emotional-functioning (p = .028), social-functioning (p < .001), and symptoms of fatigue (p = .003), pain (p = .002), dyspnea (p < .001), and diarrhea (p = .015). Post-hoc analyses confirmed greater benefits for distress (p = .005), emotional-functioning (p = .004), and dyspnea (p = .008).

Conclusion

Yoga-Nidra reduces psychological distress and improves quality of life in cancer patients. As an accessible complementary therapy, it supports emotional well-being and symptom management during intensive treatments. Further research is needed to assess its effects on less responsive domains, related symptoms, long-term efficacy, and applicability across diverse patient populations.

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瑜伽-尼德拉作为减少癌症患者心理困扰和提高生活质量的补充疗法：一项随机对照试验

目的：包括手术、化疗和放疗在内的强化癌症治疗对身体和情感都是一种负担，往往会造成心理困扰，降低生活质量。为了减轻这些影响，人们越来越多地探索补充疗法。Yoga-Nidra是一种无创、低成本、低强度的放松技术，在治疗期间可能对行动不便的患者有益。本研究探讨其对癌症患者心理困扰和生活质量的影响。方法本随机对照试验纳入40例接受化疗、放疗、激素或免疫治疗的癌症患者（年龄25-55岁）。在知情同意后，参与者被随机分配到Yoga-Nidra组（n = 20）或对照组（n = 20）。干预包括25分钟的疗程，每天两次，每周五天，持续一个月。使用NCCN困扰温度计和EORTC QLQ-C30评估干预前后的心理困扰和生活质量，包括功能、症状和整体健康状况。结果与对照组相比，syoga - nidra在包括心理困扰在内的多个生活质量领域均有显著改善（p = ）。001)、全球健康（p = ）。010)，情绪功能(p = 。028)，社会功能(p <； 。001)和疲劳症状（p = ）。003)，疼痛(p = 。002)，呼吸困难(p <； 。0.001)，腹泻（p = .015）。事后分析证实，抑郁更有益处（p = ）。2005)，情绪功能(p = 。004)，呼吸困难（p = .008）。结论yoga - nidra可减轻肿瘤患者的心理困扰，提高患者的生活质量。作为一种可获得的补充疗法，它在强化治疗期间支持情绪健康和症状管理。需要进一步的研究来评估其对反应性较差的领域、相关症状、长期疗效和在不同患者群体中的适用性的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Complementary therapies in medicine 医学-全科医学与补充医学

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

2.80%

发文量

101

审稿时长

112 days

期刊介绍： Complementary Therapies in Medicine is an international, peer-reviewed journal that has considerable appeal to anyone who seeks objective and critical information on complementary therapies or who wishes to deepen their understanding of these approaches. It will be of particular interest to healthcare practitioners including family practitioners, complementary therapists, nurses, and physiotherapists; to academics including social scientists and CAM researchers; to healthcare managers; and to patients. Complementary Therapies in Medicine aims to publish valid, relevant and rigorous research and serious discussion articles with the main purpose of improving healthcare.