Low back pain (LBP) is a common complaint and health problem in Hong Kong, particularly among middle-aged individuals. LBP is the main cause of chronic disability which significantly affects the daily life activities of patients. Pain might result in repeated hospital admissions and subsequently increase the burden on health care providers in Hong Kong. LBP has an enormous effect on quality of life and therefore deserves research attention. Growing evidence shows that yoga may help reduce the level of chronic LBP in adult patients. However, no systematic review has been conducted to support the translation of this theory into practice. Therefore, this thesis aims to evaluate the current evidence on the efficacy of yoga in reducing chronic LBP among adult patients to achieve the following objectives: formulate an evidence-based protocol on yoga practice, assess the implementation potential of the formulated protocol, and develop implementation strategies and evaluation plan for the use of this protocol in a local public hospital in Hong Kong. Five databases were used for the systemic review of relevant studies. These databases were those of Cochrane Library, CINAHL Plus, PudMed, British Nursing Index and Medline (Ovid). A total of eight papers (randomized controlled trials) fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this study. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was used to extract the data and evaluate the paper quality. The findings of the selected papers indicated that yoga practice has a significant effect on reducing pain among adult patients with chronic LBP. The innovation is proposed to be conducted in an adult orthopedic and traumatoloy (O&T) ward. Evidence-based yoga guideline is developed to guide nurses in the effective implementation of the protocol. The SIGN grading system is chosen to grade the recommendations in the guideline. Adult patients with persistent LBP longer than three months are the target population. All study participants practice specific yoga postures under the supervision of yoga instructors and trained nurses in the outpatient clinic. These patients continue home practice for 30 minutes daily or at least twice a week. Based on the findings of the reviewed literatures and the adaptation of these findings into the proposed innovation, the feasibility of implementing evidence-based yoga guideline in the local clinical setting in Hong Kong is demonstrated. An effective communication plan is developed to gain support from stakeholders and efficiently implement the innovation. A two-month pilot study is designed to test the feasibility of the guideline. Pain level, which is the primary outcome of the study, is measured by using Pain Numerical Pain Scale (NRS). Evaluation will be completed after the pilot test and at the end of the whole programme and refinement of the protocol will be accomplished according if necessary. Protocol effectiveness will be determined by a decrease in back pain level after practicing yoga. Other outcomes include the knowledge and satisfactory level of the staff with regards to the protocol, as well as and the costs and benefits of program implementation. / published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

The intent of this research was to determine if participation in regularly offered Hatha Yoga or Effective Interpersonal Relationship Development classes for the duration of a university quarter (ten weeks) could produce a change in self-concept.Self-concept was defined as the total collection of attitudes, judgments and values which an individual holds with respect to behavior, ability, body, and worth as a person; i.e.self-perception and self-evaluation. Specifically, self-concept was defined as that entity which is measured by the self-report of the discrepancy between perceived self and ideal self using the Index of Adjustment and Values.Data for the study were collected from 215 female students enrolled in a mid-western university who volunteered to participate and who completed the self-concept measure (Bills Index of Adjustment and Values) at the beginning and end of the quarter. There were 54 female students in 3 Yoga classes, 53 in 3 Effective Interpersonal Relationship Development classes and 53 in 4 comparison classes (randomly selected algebra classes). Experimental treatment consisted of material which was normally taught in the classes. Information such as age, quarter in school and other subjects taken was collected with a demographic survey.A second group of 55 female students in 3 Hatha Yoga classes taught the following year completed the pretest and posttest self-concept measures, and also answered a Student Opinion Questionnaire.Analysis of variance of the pretest data across all classes and groups indicated no significant differences, providing an assumption of equivalence of the groups. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant difference on the self-concept measure between the pretest and posttest data (p =.015). The test for simple main effects indicated that only the Hatha Yoga group contributed significantly (p =.01) to the results.Individual group repeated measure analyses indicated significant change in self-concept for the Hatha Yoga group (p =.006) but not for the Effective Interpersonal Relationship Development group (p =.08), although there was a tendency toward a positive self-concept change, or for the comparison group (p =.36). A significant difference between the pretest and posttest also found for the second Hatha Yoga group (p =.043). The majority of students who answered the Student Opinion Questionnaire felt that participation in the Hatha Yoga class had helped them become more self-aware, to feel better about themselves and to solve personal and/or physical problems.

Lau, Hoi Lam. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-289). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.