The Effectiveness of Yoga Practices on Sleep Health, Fatigue, and Occupational Performance in Women: A Quasi-Experimental Study

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of yoga practices on sleep health, fatigue, and occupational performance in working women. This study adopted a quasi-experimental approach with a pretest-posttest design and a control group to precisely evaluate the impact of the independent variable (yoga practices) on the dependent variables (sleep health, fatigue, and occupational performance). The statistical population of the research included all working women in sports complexes in District ۲ of Tehran during the years ۲۰۲۳-۲۰۲۴. From this population, ۴۰ working women (aged ۳۵ to ۴۵ years) who met the inclusion criteria were selected using purposive sampling and randomly assigned to an experimental group (۲۰ participants) and a control group (۲۰ participants). Data collection instruments included the Sleep Health Questionnaire (SHS) by Beck et al. (۲۰۱۸), the Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery (OFER) questionnaire by Swedish, and the Hersey and Goldsmith (۱۹۹۸) Job Performance Questionnaire. The experimental group received a standard ۸-session, ۳۰-minute yoga practice protocol, while the control group received no intervention during this period. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Multivariate Analysis of Covariance - MANCOVA) in SPSS version ۲۲. The results of the MANCOVA indicated that yoga practices had a significant effect on women's sleep health (F(۱,۳۷)=۶.۵۸۱, P<۰.۰۰۱, n=۰.۲۱۴), reduction of fatigue (F(۱,۳۷)=۳.۶۳۱, P<۰.۰۰۱, n²=۰.۳۶۳), and improvement in occupational performance (F(۱,۳۷)=۴.۶۴۸, P<۰.۰۰۱, n=۰.۳۸۴). The high effect size for all three dependent variables suggests the practical and clinical significance of this intervention. Based on the findings of this research, yoga can be utilized as an effective and non-pharmacological strategy to enhance the mental health and occupational efficiency of women, particularly in reducing chronic fatigue and improving sleep quality, in both workplace and clinical settings.

کلیدواژه ها:

Yoga practices ، sleep health ، occupational fatigue ، occupational performance ، working women ، MANCOVA