Yoga and music intervention to reduce depression, anxiety, and stress during COVID-19 outbreak on healthcare workers

• Published in: International journal of social psychiatry Vol. 68; no. 4; pp. 798 - 807
• Main Authors: Vajpeyee, Manisha, Tiwari, Shivam, Jain, Kavita, Modi, Pamil, Bhandari, Prem, Monga, Guneet, Yadav, Lokendra Bahadur, Bhardwaj, Himani, Shroti, Akhilesh Kumar, Singh, Shivoham, Vajpeyee, Atulabh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2022; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - prevention & control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - prevention & control; Health care; Health Personnel - psychology; Humans; Intervention; Medical personnel; Mental depression; Music; Music Therapy; SARS-CoV-2; Stress; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - prevention & control; Surveys and Questionnaires; Test scores; Workers; Yoga; Yoga - psychology; health care worker; music; mental health; anxiety stress; Dass-42; Yoga; COVID-19 outbreak; depression
• DOI: 10.1177/00207640211006742
• ISSN: 0020-7640

Aim: To investigate impact of Yoga and Music Intervention on anxiety, stress, and depression levels of health care workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This study was conducted to assess psychological responses of 240 healthcare workers during COVID-19 outbreak. We used Yoga and Music Intervention in normal and abnormal subjects based on Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-42 (DASS-42). Results: Of all 209 participants, 105 (50.23%) had symptoms of depression (35.88%), anxiety (40.19), and stress (34.92%) alone or in combination. The data suggest that there is significant improvement in test scores after intervention. Majority of persons with abnormal score exhibited improved DASS-42 score on combined interventions of Yoga and music compared to control group. Even subjects without abnormalities on DASS-42 score also showed improved DASS-42 scores in intervention (n = 52) group compared to nonintervention (n = 52) group. Conclusions: Our findings highlighted the significance of easily available, simple, inexpensive, safe nonpharmacological interventions like Yoga and Music therapy to overcome stress, anxiety, and depression in present times.