Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

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Jalilvand M, Samadi H, Heydari Y. Comparing the Effects of Yoga Exercises and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Psoriasis. MEJDS 2021; 11 :174-174
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1938-en.html

Background & Objectives: Psoriasis is among the most prevalent chronic inflammatory skin diseases with a complex, multifaceted etiology, i.e., not yet fully understood. Itching is among the common symptoms of multiple skin diseases and a frequent complaint among these patients. Pain, burning, and bleeding are other symptoms. The frequency of psychopathologic manifestations in patients with psoriasis has been demonstrated to be the most common psychopathology in these individuals, including depression, obsession, and anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, these symptoms are strongly correlated with the severity and duration of illness. Studies indicated that biopsychological interventions help to improve psychological problems. Given the relatively high prevalence of psoriasis patients in the country and the development of psychological effects, such as depression and anxiety in this population, research should seek new approaches to help treat these patients. Thus, finding appropriate solutions to alleviate symptoms and improve patients' psychological problems seem essential. Therefore, the current study aimed to compare the effects of yoga exercises and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on anxiety and depression in psoriasis patients.
Methods: This was a quasi–experimental study pretest–posttest and a control group design. The study population consisted of all male patients with psoriasis referring to Haji Daii Clinic in Kermanshah City, Iran. The study subjects were chosen by the convenience sampling method. After diagnosing anxiety and depression using a diagnostic interview and obtaining written informed consent forms, the selected patients were randomly assigned into three groups of yoga, CBT, and control (n=10/group). The inclusion criteria included patients with psoriasis for at least 6 months, the disease onset age range of 20 to 60 years, a minimum ninth–grade educational attainment, severe psychiatric illness, and providing written informed consent forms to participate in the study. The exclusion criterion of the experimental groups included non–cooperation during the intervention. Research instruments applied in pretest and posttest stages were Beck Depression Inventory–II (Beck et al., 1996) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck & Steer 1990). One experimental group received yoga training for eight weeks, two sessions per week. The second experimental group received two CBT sessions for 8 weeks. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including central and dispersion indices and inferential statistics, such as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and univariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS at the significance level 0.05. 
Results: The current study data indicated that after eliminating the pretest effect, the group effect was significant on the posttest scores of anxiety and depression (p<0.001); concerning the eta–squared, 80% of anxiety changes and 79% of depression changes were due to the effect of yoga training and CBT, in sequence. Furthermore, yoga training significantly reduced anxiety (p=0.006) and depression (p<0.001) in the explored psoriatic patients, compared to CBT.
Conclusion: The present research results demonstrated that 8 weeks of yoga training was more effective in reducing anxiety and depression in psoriasis patients than CBT. Thus, psoriasis patients are suggested to attend yoga classes and enjoy the associated psychological benefits.