Qigong exercise alleviates fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, improves sleep quality, and shortens sleep latency in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome-like illness.

Jessie S M Chan,Tzy-Jyun Yao,Rainbow T H Ho,Siu-Man Ng,Cecilia L W Chan,Ka-Fai Chung,Chong-Wen Wang

doi:10.1155/2014/106048

Abstract

Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of Baduanjin Qigong exercise on sleep, fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome- (CFS-) like illness and to determine the dose-response relationship. Methods. One hundred fifty participants with CFS-like illness (mean age = 39.0, SD = 7.9) were randomly assigned to Qigong and waitlist. Sixteen 1.5-hour Qigong lessons were arranged over 9 consecutive weeks. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Chalder Fatigue Scale (ChFS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were assessed at baseline, immediate posttreatment, and 3-month posttreatment. The amount of Qigong self-practice was assessed by self-report. Results. Repeated measures analyses of covariance showed a marginally nonsignificant (P = 0.064) group by time interaction in the PSQI total score, but it was significant for the “subjective sleep quality” and “sleep latency” items, favoring Qigong exercise. Improvement in “subjective sleep quality” was maintained at 3-month posttreatment. Significant group by time interaction was also detected for the ChFS and HADS anxiety and depression scores. The number of Qigong lessons attended and the amount of Qigong self-practice were significantly associated with sleep, fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptom improvement. Conclusion. Baduanjin Qigong was an efficacious and acceptable treatment for sleep disturbance in CFS-like illness. This trial is registered with Hong Kong Clinical Trial Register: HKCTR-1380.

Highlights

CFS is a complex, medically unexplained, and debilitating condition, which is characterized by persistent fatigue of at least 6 months
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to investigate the effect of Qigong exercise on sleep quality in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome- (CFS-)like illness and the dose-response relationship of Qigong
The results indicated that Baduanjin Qigong exercise was more efficacious than waitlist control in relieving sleep, fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in CFS-like illness

Summary

Introduction

CFS is a complex, medically unexplained, and debilitating condition, which is characterized by persistent fatigue of at least 6 months. Sleep disturbance presenting as unrefreshing or nonrestorative sleep is one of the diagnostic criteria of CFS and is very common in the patients with CFS [2]. Up to 87–95% of patients with CFS have nonrestorative sleep and the associated daytime dysfunction [3]. Psychiatric comorbidity is common in chronic fatigue and CFS; over 80% of patients with chronic fatigue and CFS had a lifetime history of psychiatric disorders such as depression or generalized anxiety disorder [5, 6]. A large part of the patients with CFS remains unrecognized by general practitioners in the community [8]. CFS-like illness is defined based on self-reported fatigue characteristics, associated symptoms, and medical history using the similar criteria for CFS but without confirmation

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion