The Effects of a Virtual Yoga Program on Patients With Chronic Pain

This research is being done to determine if remote yoga-based exercise can help reduce chronic pain. It will include three virtual research visits. This cohort study will include three remote research visits and an online questionnaire administration. In addition, participants will attend 8 weekly virtual yoga sessions with a daily 30-minute "homework assignment" of 30 minutes of video-guided yoga practice.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Chronic Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Yoga Based Daily Excercise

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 94
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Chesnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States, 02467
      • Brigham and Women's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• chronic pain for > 6 months' duration
• on stable doses of medication prior to entering the study and agree not to change medications or dosages (or CAM treatments) during the trial
• have an average pain score of 4/10 or greater over the previous week
• at least mild degree of sleep disturbance, defined as Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score >5
• are able to speak and understand English
• have access to a computer or tablet at home and have an email address
• are not currently engaged in a rigorous daily exercise routine (>5X/week)
• are willing and physically able to participate in virtual yoga-based exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

• currently under active cancer treatment (chemo, infusion, ongoing radiation)
• acute osteomyelitis or acute bone disease
• current diagnosis of chronic systemic inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus
• present or past diagnosis of schizophrenia, delusional disorder, psychotic disorder, or dissociative disorder that would be judged to interfere with study participation
• pregnancy
• any clinically unstable systemic illness judged to interfere with exercise treatment
• a pain condition requiring urgent surgery
• an active addiction disorder, such as cocaine or IV heroin use, that would interfere with study participation
• contraindications to yoga (e.g., severe back or neck injury or surgery)
• regular meditation practice or other meditative practice (e.g tai-chi, meditative form of yoga or contemplative prayer) for >20 min/week in the past 2 years
• participating in any other therapeutic trial
• other medical condition that would interfere with ability to exercise

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Usual Care
Experimental: Yoga Based Daily Excercise; Subjects will be trained to perform 30 minutes of moderate level yoga daily, with instruction on breathing, self-awareness, and ways to modify poses to avoid pain. Subjects will be instructed in use of the email links to access the 30-minute instructive video. Subjects will attend weekly Zoom classes to learn additional postures and techniques, which will be reflected in their 30 minutes video (i.e. a new video for each week). At these weekly remote yoga classes, they will be asked about difficulties encountered and given advice about their personal home practice.	Behavioral: Yoga Based Daily Excercise; Subjects will be trained to perform 30 minutes of moderate level yoga daily, with instruction on breathing, self-awareness, and ways to modify poses to avoid pain. Subjects will be instructed in use of the email links to access the 30-minute instructive video. Subjects will attend weekly Zoom classes to learn additional postures and techniques, which will be reflected in their 30 minutes video (i.e. a new video for each week). At these weekly remote yoga classes, they will be asked about difficulties encountered and given advice about their personal home practice.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility	retention, attendance, yoga practice minutes	8 weeks
Brief Pain Inventory	Change in Pain Intensity and Interference assessed by the Brief Pain Inventory a	8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pain Catastrophizing	Change in pain catastrophizing as measured by the Pain Catastrophizing Scale Scored 0-52, with higher scores indicating worse outcome.	8 weeks
Perceived Stress	Change in perceived stress as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale Scored 0-40, with higher scores indicating worse outcome.	8 weeks
Mindfulness	Change in mindfulness as measured by the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire short form Scored 24-120, with higher scores indicating better outcome.	8 weeks
Sleep	PROMIS scale	8 weeks
Anxiety	Change in Anxiety	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Brigham and Women's Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 15, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): July 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 21, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): January 27, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 28, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Chronic Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2021P002534

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No