BACKGROUND: The efficacy of body-oriented yoga in the treatment of mental disorders has been investigated in numerous studies. This article is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relevant publications. METHODS: All studies in which the efficacy of Hatha-yoga, ie, body-oriented yoga with asanas and pranayama, was studied in adult patients suffering from a mental disorder (as diagnosed by ICD or DSM criteria) were included in the analysis. The primary endpoint was disorder-specific symptom severity. The publications were identified by a systematic search in the PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO and ProQuest databases, supplemented by a search with the Google Scholar search engine and a manual search in the reference lists of meta-analyses and primary studies, as well as in specialized journals. RESULTS: 25 studies with a total of 1,339 patients were included in the analysis. A large and significant effect of yoga was seen with respect to the primary endpoint (symptom severity) (Hedges' g = 0.91; 95% confidence interval 0.55 to 1.28; number needed to treat (NNT) 2.03), with substantial heterogeneity (I2 = 69.8%) compared to untreated control groups. Small but significant effects of yoga were also seen in comparison with attention control (g = 0.39; 0.04 to 0.73; NNT 4.55) and physical exercise (g = 0.30; 0.01 to 0.59; NNT 5.75); no difference in efficacy was found between yoga and standard psychotherapy (g = 0.08; -0.24 to 0.40; NNT 21.89). In view of the relatively high risk of bias, these findings should be interpreted with caution. CONCLUSION: Body-oriented yoga with asanas and pranayama as central components is a promising complementary treatment for mental disorders and should be investigated in further high-quality studies.

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