Abstract
Background and objectives
Work-related musculoskeletal pain and discomfort are due to repetitive, unnatural, continuous movements and postures. Yoga therapy is beneficial for pain and disability in occupational settings. The current study aims to investigate the effect of yoga on musculoskeletal pain, stress, and sleep quality among industry workers.
Methodology
The study was conducted as a parallel randomized controlled open-label trial. An allocation ratio of 1:1 was followed for randomization. A health survey was used to recruit 90 male workers in machinery manufacturing industries from Bengaluru. A specially designed yoga module was administered five days a week for eight weeks to yoga group. The waitlisted control group received lifestyle suggestions. Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were administered at baseline, at the fourth week and eighth weeks. Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (RM-ANOVA) was conducted to elicit the group*time interactions.
Results
Ninety participants (Yoga = 45, Control = 45) with age 40.57 ± 6.85 were randomized. Significant interactions were found in CMDQ, VAS, PSS and PSQI scores. Further, between group comparison demonstrate significant difference between the groups at the end of 8 weeks for CMDQ, VAS and PSS scores.
Conclusions
Yoga can be used to reduce musculoskeletal pain, discomfort, perceived stress and improve sleep quality among industry workers.
Trial registration number
CTRI/2022/03/040894.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Mendeley Data (Pravalika et al. 2022) (https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/3vfsgssk8g/1) at https://doi.org/10.17632/3vfsgssk8g.1.
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Pravalika, B., Yamuna, U. & Saoji, A.A. Yoga for musculoskeletal pain, discomfort, perceived stress, and quality of sleep in industry workers: a randomized controlled trial. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 96, 1349–1360 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-023-02013-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-023-02013-3