The effect of yoga practice on proprioception in congenitally blind students

Abstract

Mobility of the visually impaired (VI) requires greater proprioception. Yoga practice has been shown to improve proprioception in normal sighted children and may therefore be expected to do so in VI students. To study the effect of yoga practice on proprioception in VI students. In a wait-listed two-armed-matched case–control study, 54 (28 yoga, 26 control) VI students of both genders aged 10–19 years from two blind schools were assessed for proprioceptive function on a kinesthesiometer on the 1st and 30th days. The yoga group practiced a specific yoga module for 1½ hr daily, which included a complete spectrum of yoga activities. The control group had no intervention. Baseline data matched between groups on all variables. There was a significant decrease in error score of proprioceptive sense measurement at 20° and 120° positions of the right elbow within the yoga group, whereas significant difference between the groups at 120° position of the right elbow. Overall, the yoga group showed improvements at all six positions measured, and similarly, their percentage improvements were greater than controls in all six positions. Sign tests yielded p = (1/64) < 0.016 against null hypotheses, indicating that yoga generally improves proprioception in blind children, significantly outperforming no-intervention. In contrast, only 3 of the 12 t-tests reached significance. The yoga module used may help improve proprioceptive function in VI children. Further studies are necessary to refine details of this result.