Effectiveness of Interventions Based on Yogic Breathing Practices (IB-YBP) on Substance Use Disorders-A Systematic Review of the Randomized Control Trials and Quasi-Experimental Trials.

Interventions based on Yogic Breathing Practices (IB-YBP) have shown promising results for substance use disorders (SUD). Research in this area is methodologically heterogeneous and only a few, but restricted, systematic reviews are available. The current systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness of IB-YBP for SUD. Materials and

Methods

PubMed, Cochrane's Library, EBSCO-Medline, and Google Scholar databases were searched for the randomized- (RCTs) and quasi-randomized trials. Research involving participants with SUD, of either gender or any age, assessing the effectiveness of the IB-YBP either as a standalone intervention or as an adjuvant to standard treatment versus standard pharmacological/non-pharmacological treatment or no-intervention control were included. Studies having participants with co-morbid psychiatric illness and interventions not having IB-YBP as the predominant component were excluded.

Results

The initial literature search yielded 396 articles and upon screening, only 14 studies were found eligible for this review. Most studies have researched IB-YBP as an adjunct to the standard treatment for SUD. Evidence for the effectiveness of IB-YBP is mostly available for tobacco and opioid use disorders, though only for short-term outcomes; however, literature is scarce for alcohol- and cocaine-use disorders. This review documented the effectiveness of the IB-YBP for substance use-related outcome parameters such as abstinence, quality of life (QoL), mood, craving, and withdrawal symptoms.

Conclusion

IB-YBP may be an effective adjuvant to standard treatment for various SUD. However, more research is required to compare its effectiveness with standard treatment, and assessing its long-term efficacy, for it to be strongly recommended as a treatment strategy.