Journal Article

Establishing key components of a combined ayurvedic diet and yoga therapy program for weight management in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a Delphi study

Rioux, Jennifer, Cheema, Birinder S., Rao, Vibhuti, Armour, Mike, Ee, Carolyn, Maunder, Alison, Smith, Caroline A.

2025

Overview

Background Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) use Ayurveda and yoga to manage the symptoms, including excess weight. However, heterogeneity in the components of clinical trials limits the quality of current evidence in this area. This Delphi study aimed to address these issues of heterogeneity by developing a list of recommendations of key components for the design of a combined Ayurvedic diet and yoga therapy (AY) program for weight management in PCOS. Methods Two rounds of an online Delphi method were used to establish consensus from qualified and experienced Ayurveda and yoga experts. Round one presented a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, allowing experts to individually identify components they considered key to the design of AY interventions. Items that did not reach consensus (≤ 80%) and new items suggested by the experts in the first round were analysed and presented for agreement in round 2. Any statement demonstrating ≥ 75% agreement was determined to have reached a consensus in the second round. Results 17 experts completed the first round, and 16 completed the second round of this Delphi study. There was a strong consensus that a combined AY intervention would be more effective than Ayurveda diet or yoga alone for weight-related outcomes. The experts reached a consensus on the parameters of the intervention (dosage and setting), provider qualification and training, approach, and components to be included in an AY program. Conclusions This study represents the first step in developing a consensus-based AY program for lifestyle management of PCOS. Future studies are needed to confirm the feasibility and acceptability of this program.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adult / Ayurvedic medicine / Body weight / Care and treatment / Chiropractic Medicine / Clinical trials / complement / Complementary & Alternative Medicine / Complementary approaches to women's health / Consent / Decision-making / Delphi method / Delphi Technique / Diagnosis / Diet / Eating behavior / Excess weight / Exercise / Female / Focus groups / Food / Health aspects / Health care / Heterogeneity / Humans / Internal Medicine / Intervention / Lifestyle / Lifestyles / Medical research / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Medicine, Ayurvedic / Medicine, Experimental / Metabolism / Ovaries / Physical activity / Polycystic ovary syndrome / Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - therapy / Stein-Leventhal syndrome / therapeutics / Traditional and complementary medicine / weight control / Well being / Women / Womens health / Yoga