The CLARIFY guidelines: A call for detailed reporting in yoga research
How do yoga researchers report on yoga interventions? Why does this matter for students, clients, and patients?
In a recently published article, yoga researchers share the CheckList stAndardising the Reporting of Interventions For Yoga (CLARIFY) guidelines—a 21-item checklist that “outlines the minimum details considered necessary for high-quality reporting of yoga research.”
The authors recruited panelists from around the world to rate items relevant to yoga interventions reported in research—e.g., qualifications of the yoga instructor, the number of times the intervention took place, and if adherence to the yoga intervention was assessed. Multiple rating rounds pared down the original 58-item list to the final 21 items.
“This 21-item guideline is presented as the ‘minimum’ intervention detail that should be reported in any yoga research, and researchers are encouraged to include additional information as applicable for optimal transparency of their research,” the authors explain.
Ideally, adhering to this checklist will support clinical application of yoga and study replication—both crucial factors in supporting people’s health and well-being through yoga.
