Yoga-group lung tests improved in adults exposed to Delhi air pollution
A randomized trial in Delhi-NCR reported improved lung-test and psychological scores with yoga, while controls worsened. The abstract does not provide numerical between-group effects or confidence intervals.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Adults exposed to air pollution in Delhi-NCR showed improved lung-function measurements, psychological scores, and respiratory quality-of-life scores in the yoga group, while controls deteriorated. This pattern favors the yoga group, but the abstract reports numerical lung changes only for that group. It does not establish the size or precision of the benefit compared with controls.
The abstract does not describe control activities, report numerical between-group differences, or provide confidence intervals. It also reports no follow-up beyond the intervention period, leaving persistence of the changes unknown.
What researchers found
Air volume measured during a forced exhalation
Change over 12 weeks from the yoga group's baseline. Controls deteriorated, but the numerical yoga-versus-control effect and its confidence interval were not reported.
Lung measurements were the physical endpoints
The researchers used spirometry, a breathing test, to measure lung function before and after the program. Improved test values are the reported physical outcomes; the abstract does not report changes in diagnosed respiratory disease.
Psychological scores changed alongside lung tests
The yoga group also had lower stress and depression-anxiety-stress questionnaire scores, alongside improved respiratory quality-of-life scores. Without numerical between-group estimates, the abstract cannot show how large those differences were or how precisely they were estimated.
The original publication
The Role of Yoga in Mitigating Pulmonary Function and Psychological Decline Due to Air Pollution: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Delhi-NCR.
Kakkar S, Basu N, Sharma V et al.
Adv Mind Body Med · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40700529
- Record checked
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