Effect of Virtual Yoga in Diabetic Gastroparesis Patients

July 16, 2026 updated by: Ohio State University

The Effect of Virtual Yoga Intervention on Symptom Severity and Quality of Life in Patients With Diabetic Gastroparesis

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential benefits of an online yoga module for patients with gastroparesis. Specifically, the study aims to:

  1. Evaluate the Impact of Yoga Practices: Examine whether practicing yoga, including pranayama (breathing techniques), mindfulness meditation, and guided relaxation, can help reduce symptoms of gastroparesis, such as nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal pain.
  2. Assess Psychological Factors: Determine if the yoga intervention can improve associated psychological factors, including mental well-being, sleep quality, and overall quality of life for individuals with gastroparesis.
  3. Provide Evidence-Based Insights: Contribute to the evidence base on the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments like yoga in managing gastroparesis, which may offer an additional, accessible management option for patients.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Diabetic gastroparesis (DGP), a chronic complication of diabetes mellitus, is characterized by delayed gastric emptying without evidence of mechanical obstruction. It results from a complex interplay of factors, including hyperglycemia-induced vagal nerve dysfunction, and impaired gastric motility. DGP predominantly affects individuals with long-standing diabetes, particularly those with poor glycemic control or diabetic neuropathy .

The condition presents with a constellation of symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, bloating, early satiety and abdominal pain, which significantly impair quality of life . Beyond its physiological burden, DGP often leads to psychological distress, mental well-being, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders.

Conventional management of DGP encompasses dietary modifications, pharmacological treatments, and invasive interventions. Small, frequent meals and low-fat, low-fiber diets are often recommended to minimize symptom severity. Pharmacological therapies, such as prokinetic agents (e.g., metoclopramide, domperidone) and antiemetics, provide symptomatic relief but are limited by side effects and inconsistent efficacy. In refractory cases, interventions like gastric electrical stimulation may be employed. Despite these measures, most patients experience incomplete relief, highlighting the need for novel, holistic approaches to management.

In addition to conventional therapies, complementary and alternative approaches like acupressure, a non-invasive technique, have been explored as a potential intervention for gastroparesis. Studies suggest that acupressure points such as (P6) and (ST36), can improve gastric motility and reduce symptoms like nausea and vomiting by modulating vagal activity and enhancing gastric peristalsis.

Yoga, another integrative therapy, has also demonstrated efficacy in addressing gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia. Yoga-based intervention has shown promising results in improving autonomic regulation and managing diabetic neuropathy through yoga.

Given its multifaceted benefits, when combined with standard care, yoga-based interventions can significantly enhance autonomic function, improve glycemic control, and reduce the severity of neuropathic symptoms in patients with diabetes mellitus. These findings suggest that yoga may have a beneficial role in managing the symptom severity and quality of life in gastrointestinal complications such as diabetic gastroparesis.

In this study, we will evaluate the effect of a virtual yoga module on physical and psychological symptoms and quality of life of patients with diabetic gastroparesis. This study will fill a critical gap in whether an ancient holistic practice like Yoga has any effect on physical and mental health of these patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

240

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • Recruiting
        • Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • History of type 1 or type 2 diabetes Gastroparesis defined by documented delayed gastric emptying, assessed by a 4-hour gastric emptying test showing more than 10% retained food in the stomach after 4 hours. This test must have been performed clinically before study enrolment.
  • Experiencing at least moderate Gastroparesis symptoms

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with severe depression or severe anxiety as assessed by screening questionnaire. Patients with Active inflammatory bowel disease. Participants with abdominal surgeries within the last 3 months. Severe Co-morbidities: Presence of severe comorbid conditions (e.g., advanced cardiovascular or respiratory disease) that could interfere with participation in the yoga intervention. Patients who self-report with current Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
  • Regular yoga practitioners (more than once a week) in the last 6 months. Undergoing current treatment for any cancer.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Yoga Group
Participants in this group will start Virtual Yoga sessions after completion of baseline surveys. The Yoga sessions will last for 12 weeks.
Behavioral: Virtual Yoga
Participants will complete gentle Yoga exercises led by a trained Yoga Instructor. Sessions will be conducted over Zoom or Teams.
Active Comparator: Waitlist group
This group will wait for 12 weeks after enrollment to begin virtual Yoga sessions. They will complete the baseline surveys as in Arm 1 and during the waitlist period will continue completing periodic electronic surveys. After the waiting period they will also complete 12 weeks of Virtual Yoga sessions.
Behavioral: Virtual Yoga
Participants will complete gentle Yoga exercises led by a trained Yoga Instructor. Sessions will be conducted over Zoom or Teams.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Gastroparesis Symptoms
Time Frame: Comparing symptoms after 3 months of Yoga to that at baseline
Measured using the Gastroparesis Symptom Questionnaire
Comparing symptoms after 3 months of Yoga to that at baseline
Physical and Mental Quality of Life
Time Frame: From baseline to 3 months after starting virtual Yoga Sessions
Using SF-12 QOL questionnaire, we will measure the physical and mental QOL of participants at baseline and 3 months after starting Yoga sessions
From baseline to 3 months after starting virtual Yoga Sessions

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Ohio State University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Subhankar CHAKRABORTY, MD, Ph.D., Ohio State University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 17, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 16, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 16, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 21, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 16, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY20250832

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Due to privacy concerns, we cannot share individual level patient data with other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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