BACKGROUND: Hypertension is one of the psychosomatic disorders prevalent throughout the world. It needs not only medical management but also lifestyle modification as it is the major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of the disease. Yoga is one such tool that can be used in the management of hypertension. To measure the effect of yoga, various scientific communities have frequently used heart rate variability by spectral analysis. This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic potential of yoga by Poincare plot analysis of heart rate variability. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of 12-week yoga therapy on heart rate variability by Poincare plot analysis in patients with essential hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients satisfying the study criteria from the Medicine Outpatient Department of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India, were included in the study after obtaining a written informed consent. Seventy patients were randomly divided into two groups: control and yoga. Yoga group received supervised yoga training (3 days in a week for 12 weeks) in addition to routine medical care. Resting cardiovascular parameters, heart rate variability by Poincare plot analysis was recorded at the onset of study and after the 12 weeks intervention period in both the groups. Data were analyzed using the appropriate statistical test. P-value of < 0.05 was considered to be significant. RESULTS: A significant decrease was observed in blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and rate pressure product in yoga group at the end of study period. A significant improvement was observed in Poincare plot analysis in the form of increase in SD 1 and SD 2 in the yoga group. CONCLUSION: Poincare plot analysis can be used independently to evaluate the effects of yoga in patients with hypertension.

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