ReviewRole of yoga for patients with type II diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

•17 RCTs were identified in the systematic review and meta-analysis.•Meta-analysis showed yoga caused a significant reduction in FBS, PPBS and HbA1c.•Yoga is an effective complementary treatment for type II DM in short term.•Adherence to yoga, non-blood glucose assessment tools to be considered in future research to test efficacy of yoga.

To understand the role and efficacy of yoga in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus, this meta-analysis was conducted. Electronic data bases searched were PubMed/Medline, ProQuest, PsycINFO, IndMED, CENTRAL, Cochrane library, CamQuest and CamBase till December 17, 2014. Eligible outcomes were fasting blood sugar (FBS), post prandial blood sugar (PPBS) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HBA1C). Randomized controlled trials and controlled trials were eligible. Studies focussing only on relaxation or meditation or multimodal intervention were not included. A total of 17 RCTs were included for review. Data from research articles on patients, methods, interventions- control and results were extracted. Mean and standard deviations were utilized for calculating standardized mean difference with 95% confidence interval. Heterogeneity was assessed with the help of I2 statistics. χ2 was used to rule out the effects of heterogeneity due to chance alone. Beneficial effects of yoga as an add-on intervention to standard treatment in comparison to standard treatment were observed for FBS [Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) −1.40, 95%CI −1.90 to −0.90, p ˂ 0.00001]; PPBS [SMD −0.91, 95%CI −1.34 to −0.48, p ˂ 0.0001] as well as HBA1C [SMD −0.64, 95%CI −0.97 to −0.30, p ˂ 0.0002]. But risk of bias was overall high for included studies. With this available evidence, yoga can be considered as add-on intervention for management of diabetes.