YoGI Yoga Pilot Registered March 6, 2026 as NCT07455929 for Schizophrenia-Spectrum Outpatients

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin filed a registry update on March 6, 2026 listing NCT07455929 as a "pilot randomized, rater-blinded controlled trial to evaluate feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a Yoga-based Group Intervention (YoGI) as an adjunc", with Kerem Böge named as the responsible party. The registry language explicitly calls the record a pilot for outpatients, and the registration text preserved the truncation at "adjunc", indicating the intervention was framed as adjunctive to usual care.

The study record in the scientific literature, however, presents different operational details: an abstract reports that 50 inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were randomized to Treatment As Usual, TAU, (n = 25) or YoGI plus TAU (n = 25) for a four-week intervention. That published excerpt supplies concrete feasibility metrics: 95% protocol adherence for YoGI, a feasibility rate of 91%, a retention rate of 94% and a 6% dropout rate. These numbers suggest a tightly run manualized program delivered over a short, intensive window.

Outcome data in the abstract are also specific and favorable. An analysis of covariance, ANCOVA, revealed significant between-group postintervention improvements in positive symptoms, depression, cognitive fusion and a mindfulness subscale for YoGI plus TAU compared with TAU alone. The abstract reports medium-to-large pre-to-post effects in the YoGI arm across body mindfulness, positive, negative and general psychopathology, cognitive fusion, depression, anxiety, stress, quality of life and attention, while within-group changes were consistently smaller in TAU. The abstract states, "No severe adverse events were reported." Its concluding sentence reads, "This trial supports the feasibility and acceptability of YoGI for inpatients with SSD and provides preliminary evidence of YoGI's benefits beyond TAU. Further robust, multicentric RCTs are warranted to deepen our understanding of YoGI's therapeutic potential and inform clinical interventions for SSD."

The mismatch between the registry label of outpatients and the published abstract describing inpatients is material. The original registration phrasing includes the explicit descriptor "rater-blinded," while the abstract excerpt does not restate blinding procedures; the responsible party on the registry entry is Kerem Böge at Charité. Clarifying whether NCT07455929 corresponds to the four-week, 50-participant inpatient pilot, or to a separate outpatient iteration, will be necessary to interpret generalizability and next steps.

YoGI is not an isolated effort. Contextual trials show varied populations and doses: a 2023 pilot randomized trial enrolled 42 adolescents to a 12-week group yoga versus group CBT program to test feasibility and prepare for a non-inferiority trial, and a large multi-site online adult trial plans to randomize 518 adults 1:1 to a 12-week synchronous group yoga intervention or Brief Behavioral Activation with assessments at baseline, week 6, week 12, week 18 and week 24 and explicit funds to cover participant technology and uninsured therapist costs. The landscape therefore ranges from four-week inpatient pilots with high adherence to 12-week outpatient and online trials with broader supports.

The sharp, published metrics from the 50-participant trial—95% adherence, 94% retention and no severe adverse events—are promising for a manualized YoGI delivered in a clinical setting. Resolving the inpatient versus outpatient designation on NCT07455929 and obtaining the full trial manuscript, including p-values, effect sizes and TAU definitions, are the next steps investigators and clinicians will need before considering broader implementation.