Online Yoga and Ayurveda Intervention as Tertiary Prevention of Psychological Comorbidities in COVID-19 Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: About 56% of symptomatic COVID-19 survivors have been found with neuropsychological comorbidities, such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD), and impaired quality of life (QoL). Alongside, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, regenerative, immunomodulatory, cardio-pulmonary health promotive, and psychological benefits of yogic and Ayurvedic intervention are well documented. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of online Yoga (OYI) and Yoga cum Ayurveda intervention (OYAI) on COVID-19-induced depression, anxiety, PTSD, and poor QoL. METHOD: Seventy-two participants (males/females: 33/26) with at least a 3-month back history of symptomatic COVID-19 infection and age (mean ± SD: 32.33 ± 9.9 and 33.04 ± 12.9 for males and females, respectively) were recruited from Patanjali Ayurveda Hospital, Haridwar, India, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India, before random allocation into an equal-sized control group (CG), Yoga group (YG) and Yoga cum concoction (YCG) group. Split-plot analysis of variance and Kruskal–Wallis tests with Bonferroni adjusted post hoc comparisons were computed for normal and nonnormal data using IBM SPSS (25th Version, SPSS South Asia Private Limited, Bangalore, India). RESULTS: Both the treatments—the 30-day OYI and OYAI, significantly improved depression (P < .002, ES: -0.99 and P < .001, ES: -2.11), anxiety (P < .001, ES: -1.32 and -1.89), PTSD (P < .001, ES: -1.8 and -1.83) and QoL related constructs (P < .001, ES: 0.63 and 0.76; 0.71 and 0.93 for each OYI and OYAI versus general health and physical health; P < .001, ES: 0.65 for OYAI versus psychological health; and P < .003, ES: 0.54 for OYI versus environment) of the participants compared to the controls. CONCLUSION: OYAI may better ameliorate COVID-19-induced psychological comorbidities than OYI with no adverse effects.