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Large UK study finds yoga costeffective for chronic LBP vs. usual care
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Large UK study finds yoga cost-effective for chronic LBP vs. usual care Researchers found that group yoga exercise classes that targeted lower back and core stability had a 72% chance of being cost effective.
Specially designed yoga instruction improved back pain and the quality of life for 156 individuals in a 12-week trial who had recurrent or chronic low back pain, took specialized yoga classes, and also received usual care from a general practitioner.
Annually, those who took the yoga classes also needed up to 8 fewer days off of work, on average, due to low back pain (LBP) vs. the study’s control group of 157 individuals with LBP that only received usual general practitioner (GP) care for their LBP during the trial, according to researchers in York, United Kingdom.
The purpose of the trial was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of group yoga plus usual care compared to usual care alone, they noted.
David J. Torgerson, PhD, lead study author, Director of York Trials Unit and professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, United Kingdom, told Orthopaedics Today Europe, “One of the advantages of yoga that we saw was that the ones who had the 12 weeks of formal classes could take what they learned and continue on with this in the longer term. So hopefully it will be long-lasting.”
Inexpensive, effective
David J. Torgerson
Torgerson said that for both groups the type of usual care delivered was determined by the GP. It may have involved physiotherapy, pain medication, bracing, exercises or other treatments.
Based on the study results, yoga as an intervention for LBP had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £13,606 or $21,376 U.S. per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) from the perspective of the U.K. National Health Service (NHS). Thus, Torgerson and colleagues found that given a willingness to pay £20,000 or $31,422 U.S. for additional QALY, the yoga intervention had a 72% chance of being cost-effective.
In a phone interview, Torgerson said the cost of the yoga intervention fell well within the acceptable cost of additional QALYs. “The intervention is relatively inexpensive.”
Reduces societal burden
“Back pain represents a significant burden to the NHS in the U.K. and to society as a whole. As well as the associated health care costs, it is also a major cause of work absenteeism, which leads to a productivity loss to society,” Torgerson stated in a university press release. “While yoga has been shown as an effective intervention for treating chronic and LBP, until now there has been little evidence on its cost effectiveness.”
Participating in the yoga program led to less time out of work of 4 days, on average, in the year following the trial compared to 12 days for controls, which is a difference of 8 days.
“That is quite a big difference,” Torgerson told Orthopaedics Today Europe. He noted that the cost to employers for employees’ time out sick is actually greater than the sum of labor cost alone.
Cost calculations the investigators made valued days away from work at £374 or $587 U.S. in the yoga group and £1,202 or $1,888 U.S. in the control group, according to the press release.
To be included in the LBP and yoga trial, individuals had to have current LBP and Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire scores of 4 points or more, Torgerson said. – by Susan M. Rapp
- Reference:
- Chuang L-H. Spine. 2012;doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182545937.
- For more information:
- David Torgerson, PhD, can be reached at University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom; email: david.torgerson@york.ac.uk.
Disclosure: The research was funded by Arthritis Research UK