Anxiety
Depression
Pain
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Yoga
Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) for Canadian Veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Lay summary
- There is growing interest in the use of alternative and complementary approaches for PTSD, such as yoga. Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY) is a form of yoga that involves breathing-based meditation.
- This study will use both quantitative (i.e., numbers-based, measureable) and qualitative (i.e., word-based, descriptive) research activities. First, the study will use an approach known as a randomized controlled trial to understand the impact of SKY on those participating in the program.
- Researchers will randomly divide participants into two groups: one receiving virtual delivery of SKY and the other being waitlisted to participate in SKY once the study is complete.
- Researchers will collect information from participants about the severity of their PTSD symptoms as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain, and their quality of life. The study will also involve an evaluation of how the program is delivered. Researchers will also look to see what hinders or improves these results for different people.
Scientific summary
Using a mixed-methods approach guided by the RE-AIM framework, this project will conduct a hybrid type II effectiveness/implementation study consisting of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and a parallel implementation evaluation of Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY) for Canadian Veterans. Effectiveness will primarily be evaluated by comparing the virtual delivery of SKY (n=100) to a waitlist control (n=100) with changes in PTSD symptoms as the primary outcome. The SKY intervention will be conducted over a six-week period. For the RCT, trained staff will collect data on PTSD symptom severity (PCL-5) as the primary outcome measure and symptoms of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), pain (BPI) and quality of life (SF-36) as exploratory outcome measures at baseline, post-treatment, and medium to long-term follow-up assessments. For the implementation evaluation, the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance of the virtual SKY intervention, including the identification of facilitators and barriers to the intervention from different study populations will be evaluated. Qualitative data will be collected using one-on-one semi-structured interviews with RCT participants, SKY instructors, health professionals and administrators who work with Veterans.
