TY - JOUR AU - Ramaprasad, Sudha AU - Snigdha, Atmakur AU - Manjunath, Nandi Krishnamurthy AU - Majumdar, Vijaya PY - 2025 DA - 2025/03/03 TI - Comparative Study on Mental Health Parameters among Yoga and Non-Yoga Practitioners in Older Adults Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic JO - OBM Geriatrics SP - 302 VL - 09 IS - 01 AB - The COVID-19 pandemic has increased stress and disrupted routines affecting the psycho-social health of older adults, a vulnerable section of the population. Yogic practices have shown the potential to reduce stress, inflammation, and psychological health among other benefits. Hence, we explored the benefits of regular yoga practice on specific key mental health attributes in older adults amidst the pandemic. Using a case-control design, older adults (n = 54) who had been regularly practising yoga for the past six months with Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana were compared in an online survey conducted with age- and gender-matched controls who self-reported themselves as non-practitioners of yoga (n = 52). The participation was voluntary, and the participants were telephonically interviewed for resilience, depression, and perceived stress. Relative to non-practitioners, active yoga practitioners exhibited significantly higher scores of resilience (adjusted mean difference (AMD), 0.19 (95% CI, 0.09 to 0.37); p < 0.05) and lower scores in perceived stress (AMD: -9.27 (-10.84 to -7.70); η2-0.57; p < 0.05) and loneliness (AMD: -22.92 (-25.40 to -20.45); η2-0.77; p < 0.05). There were no changes in other mental health markers like geriatric depression and COVID-anxiety. The findings indicate the potential of regular yoga practice to negate and cope with mental health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic by reducing the perception of stress. The validity of these findings could also be tested and extended in the post-COVID period, to lower mental health scores in older adults. SN - 2638-1311 UR - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.2501302 DO - 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2501302 ID - Ramaprasad2025 ER -