Effects of Qigong exercise and its dose-response relationship in reducing fatigue for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized waitlist-controlled trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a medically unexplained illness with no definite effective treatment yet.Our previous pilot study showed that qigong exercise can reduce fatigue and improve quality of life for patients with CFS. Objectives: In this study, the effect of qigong exercise in reducing fatigue and its dose-response relationship were investigated. METHODS: One hundred and thirty seven participants completed an RCT (intervention: n=72, age, 42.4 (6.7), female: 72%; control: n=65, age, 42.5 (6.4), female: 82%). Intervention was ten 2-hour sessions of qigong exercise training (Wuxing Pingheng-gong) by an experienced Daoist qigong master (YLP). The primary outcome measure was Chalder et al’s fatigue score. In addition, to evaluate the dose-response relationship, participants in the intervention group were asked to record weekly the frequency and duration of their qigong practice. RESULTS: The intervention and control groups were comparable at baseline. After the intervention, changes in fatigue score were -14.7 (10.3) and -5.8 (7.3) for the intervention and control groups respectively (p<.001). Among the intervention group participants, those who practiced qigong at least three times per week (n=38) reported significantly bigger improvements than those who practiced fewer than three times per week (n=18) [-17.3 (8.9) vs -9.3 (11.4), p =.006]. Patients who spent at least 30 minutes in each qigong practice (n=28) also reported bigger improvements than those who did not (n=28) [-17.9 (8.4) vs -11.6 (11.3), p=.021]. CONCLUSION: Qigong exercise can help patients with CFS reduce the level of fatigue. A practice regimen of at least 3 days per week and at least 30 minutes each time may produce better results.