The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study

Lai, Yen-Ting; Huang, Hsiao-Ling; Hsieh, City C.; Lin, Chien-Hung; Yang, Jung-Cheng; Tsou, Han-Hsing; Lin, Chih-Ching; Li, Szu-Yuan; Chan, Hsiang-Lin; Liu, Wen-Sheng

doi:10.3390/ijerph20021108

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study

by

Yen-Ting Lai

^1,2,3,†

,

Hsiao-Ling Huang

⁴,

City C. Hsieh

⁵,

Chien-Hung Lin

^6,7,8,

Jung-Cheng Yang

^2,3,

Han-Hsing Tsou

⁹,

Chih-Ching Lin

^7,10,

Szu-Yuan Li

^7,10

,

Hsiang-Lin Chan

^11,† and

Wen-Sheng Liu

^{7,8,9,12,13,*}

¹

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan

²

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

³

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hsin-Chu Hospital, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

⁴

Department of Healthcare Management, Yuanpei University of Medical Technology, No. 306, Yuanpei Street, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

⁵

Department of Kinesiology, Research Center for Education and Mind Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

⁶

Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan

⁷

Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

⁸

College of Science and Engineering, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242, Taiwan

⁹

Institute of Food Safety and Health Risk Assessment, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 112, Taiwan

¹⁰

Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan

¹¹

Department of Child Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan

¹²

Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Zhongxing Branch, Taipei 103, Taiwan

¹³

Department of Special Education, University of Taipei, Taipei 100, Taiwan

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^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1108; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021108

Submission received: 27 November 2022 / Revised: 31 December 2022 / Accepted: 3 January 2023 / Published: 8 January 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation: Issues and Challenges)

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Abstract

Background: We investigated the beneficial effect of add-on yoga with rehabilitation on blood pressure (BP) and hand grip strength in patients with chronic stroke (more than 90 days). Methods: The study included patients 30–80 years of age who could stand independently for 1 min. Patients with psychiatric diseases or undergoing other therapies (like acupuncture) were excluded. The yoga group received training (1 h session twice weekly) with standard rehabilitation for 8 weeks. The control group received standard rehabilitation only. There were no differences in age, gender, hand grip strength, or BP between the two groups (16 subjects in each group) at baseline. Results: The systolic BP (p = 0.01) decreased significantly, and the diastolic BP also decreased but not significantly in the yoga group (p = 0.11). For hand grip strength, both the unaffected hand (p = 0.00025) and the affected hand (p = 0.027) improved significantly. The control group showed no significant change in systolic or diastolic BP, nor did the grip strength change in both hands. Gender and age also affected the results of overall rehabilitation in that women benefited more from a decrease in BP, while men and young people (lower than the mean age of 60) benefited from hand grip strength improvement. Conclusions: Combining yoga with rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients can improve hand grip strength and decrease systolic BP.

Keywords: stroke; yoga; hand grip strength; blood pressure

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MDPI and ACS Style

Lai, Y.-T.; Huang, H.-L.; Hsieh, C.C.; Lin, C.-H.; Yang, J.-C.; Tsou, H.-H.; Lin, C.-C.; Li, S.-Y.; Chan, H.-L.; Liu, W.-S. The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 1108. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021108

AMA Style

Lai Y-T, Huang H-L, Hsieh CC, Lin C-H, Yang J-C, Tsou H-H, Lin C-C, Li S-Y, Chan H-L, Liu W-S. The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(2):1108. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021108

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lai, Yen-Ting, Hsiao-Ling Huang, City C. Hsieh, Chien-Hung Lin, Jung-Cheng Yang, Han-Hsing Tsou, Chih-Ching Lin, Szu-Yuan Li, Hsiang-Lin Chan, and Wen-Sheng Liu. 2023. "The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 2: 1108. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021108

APA Style

Lai, Y.-T., Huang, H.-L., Hsieh, C. C., Lin, C.-H., Yang, J.-C., Tsou, H.-H., Lin, C.-C., Li, S.-Y., Chan, H.-L., & Liu, W.-S. (2023). The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1108. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021108

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The Effects of Yoga Exercise on Blood Pressure and Hand Grip Strength in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Pilot Controlled Study

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