Yoga Effect on Quality-of-Life Study Among Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (YES-IPF)

RationalePatients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis have poor health-related quality of life. ObjectiveDetermine whether a modified yoga program in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis improves quality of life compared to usual care. MethodsRandomized controlled, non-blinded, pilot clinical trial lasting 12 weeks with 2 arms involving 63 adults with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The yoga program-arm consisted of interventions such as seated postures, breathing and meditation exercises designed by authors for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients. The control arm continued with usual standard of care. Analysis of covariance was performed; no multiplicity adjustments were made on account of this being a pilot study. MeasurementsThe primary outcomes were week-12 scores in seven patient-reported instruments, each with sub-domains, totaling 21 outcomes. Results60 of the 63 participants (32 randomized to yoga; 31 receiving standard of care) completed the study (one death in each arm and one withdrawal in yoga group). Analysis of covariance for week-12 scores, adjusting for baseline scores and confounders, revealed significant treatment effects favoring yoga in the L-IPF cough domain (-9.29 points, 95% CI -18.37 to -0.20; p=0.045), in the L-IPF total score (-7.11, 95% CI -13.15 to -1.06; p=0.022), and in the R-scale-PF cough domain (-1.18, 95% CI - 2.27 to -0.10; p=0.034) in the study population. ConclusionPatients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis participating in a yoga program demonstrated significant improvement in quality of life assessed by the cough and total scores of L-IPF and the cough score of R-scale-PF than those receiving usual care. SummaryWe examine if the implementation of a modified yoga program improves patient-reported outcomes in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Our study reveals significant post-yoga improvements in the yoga group compared to the control group across different patient-reported outcomes. Such outcomes are meaningful endpoints in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and serve as a critical endpoint in related clinical trials.