Effectiveness of yoga therapy for migraine treatment: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies.

INTRODUCTION

Yoga therapy may have some potential in treating migraine, and thus this meta-analysis aims to explore the efficacy of yoga therapy for patients with migraine.

METHODS

PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO and Cochrane library databases have been systematically searched and we included the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting the efficacy of yoga therapy for migraine patients. The outcomes included.

RESULTS

This meta-analysis included six RCTs. The results revealed that compared with control group for migraine, yoga therapy was associated with remarkably decreased pain intensity (SMD = -1.21; 95% CI = -2.17 to -0.25; P = 0.01), headache frequency (SMD = -1.43; 95% CI = -2.23 to -0.64; P = 0.0004), headache duration (SMD = -1.03; 95% CI = -1.85 to -0.21; P = 0.01), HIT-6 score (SMD = -2.28; 95% CI = -3.81 to -0.75; P = 0.003) and MIDAS score (SMD = -0.52; 95% CI = -0.77 to -0.27; P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Yoga therapy may be effective to treat migraine patients, but it should be recommended with caution because of heterogeneity.