Yoga participants find ambulation improvements

February 20, 2006

By: Lori Rochelle Roniger

Stride length and peak hip extension increased significantly in older

adults following an eight-week Iyengar Hatha yoga program designed

for this population, researchers reported in the Archives of Physical

Medicine and Rehabilitation's September issue. Since deficits in

these measures are associated with an increased fall risk in the

elderly, yoga may provide a cost-effective means for improving gait,

the investigators concluded.

" Reduced hip extension is a key impairment that hasn't been getting a

lot of attention in day-to-day rehabilitation practice, " said D.

Casey Kerrigan, MD, chair of the physical medicine and rehabilitation

department at the University of Virginia and one of the study's

authors. " Yoga hits on the holy grail of impairment in elderly

folks. "

The researchers, some of whom were based at UVA and some at the

Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies in

Charlottesville, VA, examined the effects of a twice-weekly 90-minute

yoga program on 23 healthy adults between the ages of 62 and 83. The

study subjects, of whom 19 completed the study, were also told to

practice yoga at home for at least 20 minutes every other day and

provided with detailed instructions on the exercises.

Hip extension and pelvic tilt showed a strong dose-response

relationship to the frequency and duration of yoga practice at home

in the more diligent study subjects. Additionally, there was a strong

nonsignificant decrease in average pelvic tilt, which was negatively

related to peak hip extension change. Nonsignificant changes in peak

ankle plantar flexion and peak ankle joint power were positively

related to peak hip extension change, and stride length change was

positively associated with changes in ankle plantar flexion, ankle

power, and comfortable walking speed.

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