The effect of yoga therapy consultations on symptom burden in inpatient cancer care: a retrospective observational study

Purpose: Extended hospitalization can lead to fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression, and functional decline in cancer patients. This retrospective observational study examined reasons for referral to inpatient one-on-one Yoga Therapy (YT) consultations and observed the delivery of YT to address symptoms. Exploratory analyses examined patient-reported outcomes (PROs) following a single YT session. Methods: Data from inpatient YT consultations from January 2020 to March 2023 were evaluated. Information included demographics, referral reason, and self-reported symptom burden before and after YT using the modified Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (mESAS). Changes in mESAS scores were evaluated by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Pre-post mESAS responses were available for 88/130 YT referrals. Most patients were female (n = 88; 67.7%) and white (n = 101; 77.7%), with a mean age of 53.1. The most common cancer diagnosis was leukemia (19.2%), and 40.8% had metastatic disease. The primary referral reasons were fatigue (76.9%), anxiety/stress reduction (76.2%), and quality of life (62.3%). The highest patient-reported symptoms pre-YT were Fatigue (x ̅ = 5.26), decreased Well-Being (x ̅ = 4.89), and Sleep disturbances (x ̅4.66). Following YT, participants reported clinically and statistically significant reductions in Fatigue (mean difference (MD) = -1.62, p < 0.001, ES = 0.82), Anxiety (MD = -1.56, p < 0.001, ES = 0.78), and Pain (MD = 1.44, p < 0.001, ES = 0.79), with significant reductions in mESAS components except Financial Distress and Spiritual Pain. Change scores were larger for patients scoring ≥ 4 on a specific symptom pre-YT. Conclusions: Findings suggested that a single inpatient YT intervention provided immediate relief from symptom burden, especially for those reporting high symptom burden. The long-term effects of inpatient YT merits further study as a non-pharmacologic intervention to reduce symptom burden in patients with cancer.