CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 115Schizophrenia research and treatmentMindfulness and Compassion InterventionsDiversity and Impact of Dance

Yoga in schizophrenia: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Open access
Vancampfort, D., Vansteelandt, K., Scheewe, T., Probst, M., Knapen, J., De Herdt, A., De Hert, M.·2012·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
DOI 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01865.x
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Vancampfort D, Vansteelandt K, Scheewe T, Probst M, Knapen J, De Herdt A, De Hert M. Yoga in schizophrenia: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary treatment on general psychopathology, positive and negative symptoms and health‐related quality of life (HRQL) for people with schizophrenia. Method: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were considered whether they investigated a yoga intervention in patients with schizophrenia. The selection of studies, data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Results: Only three RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Lower Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores and subscale scores for positive and negative symptoms were obtained after yoga compared with exercise or waiting list control conditions. In the same way, the physical, psychological, social and environmental HRQL as measured with the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL‐BREF) increased more significantly after yoga than after exercise or waiting list control conditions. None of the RCTS encountered adverse events. Dose–response relationships could, however, not be determined. Conclusion: Although the number of RCTs included in this review was limited, results indicated that yoga therapy can be an useful add‐on treatment to reduce general psychopathology and positive and negative symptoms. In the same way, HRQL improved in those antipsychotic‐stabilised patients with schizophrenia following yoga.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01865.x

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Yoga has positive effects on stress, anxiety, social functioning, and quality of life for SSD, with sustained benefits up to six months postintervention.

    “Further meta-analyses indicate that yoga has positive effects on stress, anxiety, social functioning, and quality of life for SSD,27 with sustained benefits lasting up to six months postintervention.28”

    From Yoga-Based Group Intervention for Inpatients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders—Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Rater-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. (2026) · cites this paper as [27]

    The ‘Effectiveness of yoga on HRQL’ section (page unavailable) reports improvements in quality of life, including its social-relations domain, among people with schizophrenia. It does not establish improvements in stress or anxiety, and a social-relations quality-of-life score is not the same as social functioning. The six-month benefit is attached to a different citation (28) in the citing sentence, so it is not judged against this source. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Meta-analytic evidence shows yoga for SSD has consistent medium effects on reduction of negative symptoms in short-term (g=0.44) and long-term (g=0.35).

    “consistent medium effects on the reduction of negative symptoms in both short- (Hedges’s g = 0.44) and long-term (Hedges’s g = 0.35).”

    From Yoga-Based Group Intervention for Inpatients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders—Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Rater-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. (2026) · cites this paper as [27]

    The ‘Effectiveness of yoga on positive and negative symptoms’ section (page not provided) reports reductions in negative symptoms in the reviewed trials. It does not report the claimed Hedges’s g values or establish consistent medium effects at both short- and long-term follow-up. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Yoga improves quality of life (g=0.34) and social functioning (g=0.45) compared to passive control groups, but effect sizes vary when active control groups are included.

    “Additionally, yoga was shown to improve quality of life (Hedges’s g = 0.34) and social functioning (Hedges’s g = 0.45) compared to passive control groups; however, effect sizes vary when active control groups are included.27”

    From Yoga-Based Group Intervention for Inpatients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders—Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Rater-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. (2026) · cites this paper as [27]

    The 'Effectiveness of yoga on HRQL' section (page not provided) reports improvements in quality-of-life scores, including the social domain, after yoga compared with exercise. The copy does not report Hedges’s g values of 0.34 or 0.45, establish the stated effects against passive controls, or report how effect sizes vary when active controls are included. Its social quality-of-life measure also does not establish the claimed social-functioning effect. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Meta-analytic evidence shows yoga for SSD has medium short-term effects (g=0.31) and small long-term effects (g=0.18) on reduction of positive symptoms.

    “Meta-analytic evidence regarding yoga for SSD shows medium short-term effects (Hedges’s g = 0.31) and small long-term effects (Hedges’s g = 0.18) on the reduction of positive symptoms”

    From Yoga-Based Group Intervention for Inpatients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders—Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Rater-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. (2026) · cites this paper as [27]

    The ‘Effectiveness of yoga on positive and negative symptoms’ section reports reductions in positive symptoms after yoga in the reviewed trials. It does not report pooled Hedges’s g values of 0.31 and 0.18 or distinguish short- and long-term effects, so the claim’s quantitative meta-analytic findings are not supported by this paper. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 38

  1. van Os J, Kapur S. Schizophrenia. Lancet 2009;374:635- 645.
  2. Kern RS, Glynn SM, Horan WP, Marder SR. Psychosocial treatments to promote functional recovery in schizophre- nia. Schizophr Bull 2009;35:347-361.
  3. Ritsner M, Ben-Avi I, Ponizovsky A, Timinsky I, Bistrov E, Modai I. Quality of life and coping with schizophrenia symptoms. Qual Life Res 2003;12:1-9.
  4. Faulkner G, Biddle S. Exercise as an adjunct treatment for schizophrenia: a review of the literature. J Ment Health 1999;8:441-457.
  5. Faulkner G. Exercise as an adjunct treatment for schizo- phrenia. In: Faulkner G, Taylor A, eds. Exercise, health and mental health: emerging relationships. London: Routledge, 2005: 27-45.
  6. Ellis N, Crone D, Davey R, Grogan S. Exercise interven- tions as an adjunct therapy for psychosis: a critical review. Br J Clin Psychol 2007;46:95-111.
  7. Vancampfort D, Knapen J, Probst M et al. Considering a frame of reference for physical activity research related to the cardio-metabolic risk profile in schizophrenia. Psychi- atry Res 2010;177:271-279.
  8. Vancampfort D, Probst M, Van Winkel R et al. The thera- peutic value of physical exercise for people with schizo- phrenia. Tijdschr Psychiatr 2010;52:565-574.
  9. Gorczynski P, Faulkner G. Exercise therapy for schizo- phrenia. Schizophr Bull 2010;36:665-666.
  10. Vancampfort D, Probst M, Skjaerven LH et al. A systematic review of the benefits of physical therapy within a multi- disciplinary care approach of patients with schizophrenia. Phys Ther 2012;92:11-23.
  11. Probst M, Knapen J, Poot G, Vancampfort D. Psychomotor therapy and psychiatry: what is in a name? Open Compl Med J 2010;2:105-113.
  12. Vancampfort D, Probst M, Knapen J, Demunter H, Peuskens J, De Hert M. Body-directed techniques on psychomotor therapy for people with schizophrenia a review of the lit- erature. Tijdschr Psychiatr 2011;53:531-541.
  13. Telles S, Naveen KV. Yoga for rehabilitation: an overview. Indian J Med Sci 1999;51:123-127.
  14. Machleidt W, Ziegenbein M. An appreciation of yoga- therapy in the treatment of schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2008;117:397-398.
  15. Lovisi GM. Do the effects of yoga therapy improve positive and negative symptoms and emotion recognition abilities in antipsychotic-stabilized patients with schizophrenia? Acta Psychiatr Scand 2011;124:234-235.
  16. Verma AK, Basu D. Does Yoga therapy actually improve the emotion recognition deficits in schizophrenia? Acta Psychiatr Scand 2011;124:234.
  17. Uebelacker LA, Epstein-Lubow G, Gaudiano BA, Tremont G, Battle CL, Miller IW. Hatha yoga for depression: critical review of the evidence for efficacy, plausible mechanisms of action, and directions for future research. J Psychiatr Pract 2010;16:22-33.
  18. Saeed SA, Antonacci DJ, Bloch RM. Exercise, yoga, and meditation for depressive and anxiety disorders. Am Fam Physician 2010;81:981-986.
  19. Moher D, Liberati A., Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, PRISMA Group. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the PRISMA statement. BMJ 2009;339:b2535.
  20. Ernst E, Pittler MH, Stevinson C, White AR. The desktop guide to complementary and alternative medicine, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Mosby, 2006: 355.
  21. de Vet HC, de Bie RA, van der Heijden G, Verhagen AP, Sijpkes P, Kipschild PG. Systematic reviews on the basis of methodological criteria. Physiotherapy 1997;83:284-289.
  22. Mc Neely ML, Armijo Olivo S, Magee DJ. A systematic review of the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions for temporomandibular disorders. Phys Ther 2006;86:710- 725.
  23. Duraiswamy G, Thirthalli J, Nagendra HR, Gangadhar BN. Yoga therapy as an add-on treatment in the management of patients with schizophrenia-a randomized controlled trial. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2007;116:226-232.
  24. Behere RV, Arasapa R, Jagannatha A et al. Effect of yoga therapy on facial emotion recognition deficits, symptoms and functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Acta Psy- chiatr Scand 2011;123:147-153.
  25. Visceglia E, Lewis S. Yoga therapy as an adjunctive treat- ment for schizophrenia: a randomized, controlled pilot study. J Altern Complement Med 2011;17:601-607.
  26. Kay SR. Positive and negative symptom (PANNS) scale manual. Schizophr Bull 1986;13:261-278.
  27. Skevington SM, Lotfy M, OÕConnell KA. The World Health OrganizationÕs WHOQOL-Bref quality of life assessment: psychometric properties and results of the international field trial. A report from the WHOQOL group. Qual Life Res 2004;13:299-310.
  28. Mas-Expo ´sito L, Amador-Campos JA, Go ´mez-Benito J, Lalucat-Jo L, Research Group on Severe Mental Disorder. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version: a validation study in patients with schizophrenia. Qual Life Res 2011;20:1079-1289.
  29. Vancampfort D, Knapen J, de Hert M et al. Cardio-meta- bolic effects of physical activity interventions for people with schizophrenia. Phys Ther Rev 2009;14:388-398.
  30. Jha A. Yoga therapy for schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2008;117:397-399.
  31. Telles S, Joshi M, Dash M, Raghuraj P, Naveen KV, Nagendra HR. An evaluation of the ability to voluntarily reduce the heart rate after a month of yoga practice. Integr Physiol Behav Sci 2004;39:119-125.
  32. Woolery A, Myers H, Sternlieb B, Zeltzer L. A yoga intervention for young adults with elevated symptoms of depression. Altern Ther Health Med 2004;10:60-63.
  33. Green AI, Drake RE, Brunette MF, Noordsy DL. Schizo- phrenia and co-occurring substance use disorder. Am J Psychiatry 2007;164:402-408.
  34. Koskinen J, Lo ¨ho ¨nen J, Koponen H, Isohanni M, Miettunen J. Rate of cannabis use disorders in clinical samples of patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. Schizophr Bull 2010;36:1115-1130.
  35. Winterer G. Why do patients with schizophrenia smoke? Curr Opin Psychiatry 2010;23:112-119.
  36. Vancampfort D, Knapen J, Probst M, Scheewe T, Remans S, de Hert M. A systematic review of correlates of physical activity in patients with schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2012;125:352-362.
  37. Nespor K. Twelve years of experience with yoga in psy- chiatry. Int J Psychosom 1993;40:105-107.
  38. Elkins G, Rajab MH, Marcus J. Complementary and alter- native medicine use by psychiatric inpatients. Psychol Rep 2005;96:163-166.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Vancampfort, D., Vansteelandt, K., Scheewe, T., Probst, M., Knapen, J., De Herdt, A., & De Hert, M.
Affiliations
  • KU Leuven (BE)
  • University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
Corresponding author
Vancampfort, D.
ORCID
Venue
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2012-04-06
Volume
126
Issue
1
Pages
12-20
ISSN
  • 0001-690X (ISSN-L)
  • 1600-0447
DOI
10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01865.x
OpenAlex
W1687524323
Cited by
115
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 5
FWCI
1.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Diversity and Impact of Dance
Keywords
yoga, schizophrenia, complementary therapy, positive symptoms, negative symptoms, general psychopathology, health-related quality of life, physical activity, adjunctive therapy
MeSH terms
Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Quality of Life, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Yoga, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review