Yoga-based exercise program for veterans with severe mental illness
Compares yoga-based exercise with a wellness lifestyle program in veterans with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Exercise-based Program for Rehabilitation of Veterans With Severe Mental Illness
Key facts
- Where
- Pittsburgh, United StatesSee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 70 years old?
Source: NCT05157620, who can take part
Where in United States
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, PAPittsburgh, United StatesTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- VA Office of Research and Development
- Trial code
- NCT05157620
- Record updated
- 1 July 2026
- Original description
This is a hybrid1, effectiveness-implementation study of yoga-based exercises (YE) as an adjunctive tool for rehabilitation among persons with Severe Mental Illness (SMI). The two-arm randomized controlled trial will compare the efficacy of YE compared to the Wellness Lifestyle Program (WLP). Primary outcomes of the study will be self-report and performance-based measures of community functioning, defined in the investigators study as social, leisure, employment, and life skills functioning in the community. Secondary outcomes will include cognition and physical fitness measures.Read full original descriptionShow less
Exercise-based Program for Rehabilitation of Veterans With Severe Mental Illness
This is a hybrid1, effectiveness-implementation study of yoga-based exercises (YE) as an adjunctive tool for rehabilitation among persons with Severe Mental Illness (SMI). The two-arm randomized controlled trial will compare the efficacy of YE compared to the Wellness Lifestyle Program (WLP). Primary outcomes of the study will be self-report and performance-based measures of community functioning, defined in the investigators study as social, leisure, employment, and life skills functioning in the community. Secondary outcomes will include cognition and physical fitness measures.
Inclusion: Written informed consent; age 18-70 years; DSM-5 diagnosis of; schizophrenia,; schizoaffective disorder,; bipolar 1 disorder,; DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar 1 disorder including those with a co-morbid; alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder; clinically stable; clinical global impression-severity (CGI-S) scores mild to moderately ill.
Exclusion: disability or illness precluding yoga-based exercises or wellness lifestyle program, e.g.,; current or recent angina (<6 months),; history of myocardial infarction in the past year (unless permission is obtained from the primary care physician),; uncontrolled hypertension or hypotension; neurological illness complicating diagnosis / cognitive evaluation, e.g.,; dementia,; stroke or head injury; Unable to provide written informed consent; intellectual disability (i.e., severe enough to impact understanding of yoga-based exercises) based on chart or IQ<80 on the Wechslet Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-II (WASI-II); physical problems that preclude training for yoga-based exercises / wellness lifestyle program, e.g.,; severely impaired vision; ongoing treatment that includes more than one hour per week of relaxation and mind-body based stress reduction strategies related to yoga.