Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Dec 31;23(1):20r02722.
doi: 10.4088/PCC.20r02722.

Exercise, Yoga, and Tai Chi for Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in Outpatient Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Ashok Seshadri  1   2   3   4 , Akuh Adaji  2   5 , Scott S Orth  3   6 , Balwinder Singh  2 , Matthew M Clark  2 , Mark A Frye  2 , Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz  4 , Jane McGillivray  4
Affiliations
Free article
Meta-Analysis

Exercise, Yoga, and Tai Chi for Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in Outpatient Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Ashok Seshadri et al. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. .
Free article

Abstract

Objective: Exercise, yoga, and tai chi are commonly used complementary approaches for health and wellness. This review aims to synthesize the evidence for exercise, yoga, and tai chi in the outpatient treatment of major depressive disorder.

Study selection: A systematic search of the Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane databases was conducted for randomized controlled trials of exercise, yoga, and tai chi for major depressive disorder.

Data extraction: Standardized mean differences were calculated and meta-analyzed using a random effects multilevel modeling framework. Heterogeneity and subgroup analysis was conducted.

Results: Twenty-five studies were included for final analysis (exercise: 15, yoga: 7, tai chi: 3). Overall, meta-analysis showed a moderate significant clinical effect. However, when only studies (6 studies) with the lowest risk of bias were included, the overall effect size was reduced to low to moderate efficacy. Overall quality of evidence was low. Heterogeneity and publication bias were high.

Conclusions: The current meta-analysis of outpatient exercise, yoga, and tai chi for treatment of major depressive disorder suggests that adjunctive exercise and yoga may have small additive clinical effects in comparison to control for reducing depressive symptoms. The evidence for tai chi is insufficient to draw conclusions. The concerns with quality of studies, high heterogeneity, and evidence of publication bias preclude making firm conclusions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources