Utility of Yoga as an Alternative Therapy for Occupational Hazards among Physical Therapists

This study was conducted to evaluate the adoption of yoga techniques as an alternative therapy in the management of physical and psychological occupational hazards among physical therapists.

A validated closed-ended questionnaire was used to assess education and experience level, personal health and occupational hazards/habits, and treatment strategies used for the physical and psychological occupational hazards for participants in their current position. By e-mail, we invited 500 randomly selected physical therapists to participate.

We received completed questionnaires from 119 physical therapists. Musculoskeletal pain with stress was the most common occupational hazard reported, followed by only stress, and only musculoskeletal pain. Regarding the pain, the lumbar spine, cervical spine, thoracic spine, shoulder, and knee were the most affected parts of the body. Regarding pain and stress, only a third physical therapists adopted yoga as an alternative treatment for these occupational hazards; physical therapists tended to engage in other forms of exercise, listen to music or utilize massage to treat pain and stress. Lack of time and lack of training were the most common reasons cited by physical therapists for not practicing yoga. Interestingly, 85.7% of physical therapists would recommend yoga as a treatment for their patients.

While musculoskeletal pain and stress were extremely common occupational hazards among physical therapists, only about a third of physical therapists adopted yoga as an alternative treatment for these occupational hazards.