Effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females with chronic pelvic pain

CONTEXT: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common condition of women of the reproductive age group. It has a negative impact on a woman's personal health and quality of life (QOL). Practicing yoga has shown numerous benefits in various chronic painful conditions. AIM: To study the effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females of reproductive age group with CPP, on conventional therapy. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It is a follow-up, randomized case-control study done in a tertiary care hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty female patients of CPP in the age group of 18–45 years were randomly divided into Group I (n = 30) and Group II (n = 30). Group I received only conventional therapy in the form of NSAIDS and Group II received yoga therapy in the form of asanas, pranayama, and relaxation along with the conventional therapy for 8 weeks. They were assessed twice (pre- and post-treatment) for pain scores through visual analog scale (VAS) score and QOL by the World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Repeated measure ANOVA followed by Tukey's test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of yogic intervention, Group II patients showed a significant decrease in intensity of pain seen by a decrease in VAS score (P < 0.001) and improvement in the quality of life with a significant increase (P < 0.001) in physical, psychological, social, and environmental domain scores of WHOQOL-BREF. CONCLUSIONS: The practice of yoga causes a reduction in the pain intensity and improves the quality of life in patients with chronic pelvic pain.