Barriers and facilitators to yoga for obesity, diabetes, and hypertension: A qualitative systematic review protocol

The global burden of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension is high and increasing. Several systematic reviews suggest yoga, an ancient mind-body discipline from the Indian subcontinent, is safe and can be beneficial for preventing and managing obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Several qualitative studies have been conducted to explore barriers and facilitators to yoga practice among people at high risk of or with obesity, diabetes, or hypertension and providers who delivered yoga to these people. However, no systematic review on this topic has been conducted to date, and this systematic review will aim to synthesize such barriers and facilitators to yoga practice. We will follow the JBI guideline on systematic reviews of qualitative evidence. For published studies, we will search the following electronic databases from inception dates: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, APA PsycInfo, AMED, and Web of Science. For gray literature, we will search EthOS and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Screening of studies, methodological quality assessment, and data extraction will be performed independently by two reviewers. Any disagreements between reviewers will be resolved through discussion or by involving a third reviewer. Initially, a narrative synthesis will be conducted. Study findings from the included studies will be pooled using the meta-aggregation approach, where possible.