The benefits of yoga for people living with HIV/AIDS: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Only seven studies were included, and several between-group analyses rested on only two studies. The included studies were largely small pilot trials, so they may have been too small to detect true differences. Participants could not be blinded, and control conditions were treatment as usual or assessment only, so attention and time in the yoga groups may explain some effects. Most analyses used only the first post-intervention assessment, so sustained benefit is unknown. 396 people consented but 369 were analysed because some studies did not report intent-to-treat analyses and participants were lost to follow-up. Methodological quality was not high: scores ranged from 13 to 18 out of a possible 25, and only one study described the sample as representative. Publication bias could not be assessed because the review did not meet the requirement of 10 or more effect sizes for an outcome. Physiological stress markers and viral load were measured too infrequently to pool. Some yoga programs included additional components, such as social support and spiritual chant, so their effects cannot be separated from yoga.

Do not read the within-group improvements in depression and quality of life as proof that yoga is better than usual care for those outcomes. The between-group comparisons for depression and quality of life were not significant, and CD4+ counts also did not improve between groups.