Online yoga as a non-pharmacologic symptom management approach in myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Abstract

e21704 Background: Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) have difficult symptom burden (i.e. fatigue, pruritus, night sweats) not resolved by current medical therapies including jak inhibitor therapy. We hypothesize that on-line (at home) yoga might alleviate MPN symptoms and complement medical therapy. Methods: MPN patients, recruited by social media, were asked to complete 60 min/week of online yoga (designed for MPN patients) for 12 weeks and completed online self-report surveys (weeks 0,7,12 and 16) on participation (Qualtrics), disease features, and symptom burden (MPN Symptom Assessment Form; NIH PROMIS measures of pain, anxiety, depression, sleep, and sexual function). Results: Two hundred and forty-four MPN patients completed the eligibility survey, 134 were eligible, 55 completed the informed consent, and 38 MPN patients completed the 12-week intervention. The majority of participants were diagnosed with either PV (n = 16) or ET (n = 16), with MF being less common (n = 6). Approximately 37% (n = 14) of study participants averaged ≥60 min/week of yoga (i.e., demand). Yoga participation averaged 50.8±36.2 min/week. Overall, 68% of participants were satisfied with online yoga and 75% felt that is was helpful for coping with MPN-related symptoms (i.e., acceptability, practicality). Additionally, 75% of participants felt safe from injury while participating in online yoga. Only one adverse event was reported (irritated enlarged spleen). From week 0 to week 12 (n = 38), there were significant improvements in total symptom burden (effect size [ES] in standard deviation units = -0.36, p = 0.004), anxiety (ES = -0.67, p = 0.002), depression (ES = -0.41, p = 0.049), sleep (ES = -0.58, p < 0.001), and fatigue (ES = -0.33, p = 0.04). These improvements remained significant at follow-up week 16 (n = 28) for all outcome measures with a trend for maintained fatigue improvement (ES = -0.34, p = 0.06) (see Table 1). There were no significant differences in outcomes between those that averaged < 60 min/week of yoga compared to those that averaged ≥60 min/week of yoga. Conclusions: A 12-week online yoga intervention is feasible (i.e., accepted, practical) for MPN patients and merits a randomized trial as complementary therapy.