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Associations between yoga practice and joint problems: a cross-sectional survey among 9151 Australian women

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Abstract

Yoga exercises have been associated with joint problems recently, indicating that yoga practice might be potentially dangerous for joint health. This study aimed to analyse whether regular yoga practice is associated with the frequency of joint problems in upper middle-aged Australian women. Women aged 62–67 years from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) were questioned in 2013 whether they experienced regular joint pain or problems in the past 12 months and whether they regularly practiced yoga. Associations of joint problems with yoga practice were analysed using Chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression modelling. Of 9151 women, 29.8% reported regular problems with stiff or painful joints, and 15.2, 11.9, 18.1 and 15.9% reported regular problems with shoulders, hips, knees and feet, respectively, in the past 12 months. Yoga was practiced sometimes by 10.1% and often by 8.4% of women. Practicing yoga was not associated with upper or lower limb joint problems. No association between yoga practice and joint problems has been identified. Further studies are warranted for conclusive judgement of benefits and safety of yoga in relation to joint problems.

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Acknowledgements

The research on which this manuscript is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health by the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle. We are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding and to the women who provided the survey data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, 235-253 Jones Street, 2007, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    Romy Lauche, David Sibbritt, Jon Adams & Holger Cramer

  2. Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45276, Essen, Germany

    Dania Schumann & Holger Cramer

Authors
  1. Romy Lauche
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  2. Dania Schumann
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  3. David Sibbritt
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  4. Jon Adams
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  5. Holger Cramer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Romy Lauche.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Lauche has nothing to disclose. Ms Schumann has nothing to disclose. Prof Sibbritt has nothing to disclose. Prof Adams has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cramer has nothing to disclose.

Ethical approval

This project (Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health) has been approved by the University of Newcastle’s Human Research Ethics Committee, approval numbers: H-076-0795 and H-2012-0256, and the University of Queensland’s Medical Research Ethics Committee, approval numbers: 2004000224 and 2012000950. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lauche, R., Schumann, D., Sibbritt, D. et al. Associations between yoga practice and joint problems: a cross-sectional survey among 9151 Australian women. Rheumatol Int 37, 1145–1148 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-017-3744-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-017-3744-z

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