Qigong Exercise Alleviates Fatigue, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms, Improves Sleep Quality, and Shortens Sleep Latency in Persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Like Illness
Table 2
Sleep, fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptoms at baseline, immediate postintervention, and 3-month postintervention.
Within-group effects
Between-group effects
T0
T1a
Effect size
T2a
Effect size
T1 − T0b
T2 − T0b
Time × groupc
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
Cohen’s
Mean (SD)
Cohen’s
Mean (SD)
Mean (SD)
value
PSQI total
Qigong ()
10.0 (3.7)
8.2 (3.4)∗∗∗
−0.51
8.3 (3.4)∗∗∗
−0.48
−1.9 (3.4)∗
−1.7 (3.4)
2.777
0.064
Waitlist ()
10.2 (3.8)
9.5 (3.7)∗
−0.19
9.3 (3.5)∗
−0.25
−0.7 (2.6)
−0.9 (3.5)
Subjective sleep quality
Qigong ()
1.93 (0.71)
1.42 (0.74)∗∗∗
−0.70
1.49 (0.73)∗∗∗
−0.61
−0.51 (0.71)∗∗
−0.45 (0.7)∗∗
6.364
0.002
Waitlist ()
1.86 (0.71)
1.68 (0.69)∗
−0.26
1.75 (0.70)
−0.16
−0.18 (0.67)
−0.11 (0.72)
Sleep latency
Qigong ()
1.63 (1.06)
1.23 (0.99)∗∗∗
−0.39
1.28 (1.02)∗∗∗
−0.34
−0.40 (0.75)∗
−0.35 (0.81)
3.168
0.044
Waitlist ()
1.69 (0.97)
1.57 (0.92)
−0.13
1.49 (0.95)∗
−0.21
−0.12 (0.70)
−0.20 (0.79)
Sleep duration
Qigong ()
1.67 (0.91)
1.44 (0.83)∗
−0.26
1.40 (0.81)∗∗
−0.31
−0.23 (0.80)∗
−0.27 (0.72)
1.905
0.151
Waitlist ()
1.75 (0.84)
1.79 (0.89)
−0.05
1.61 (0.85)
−0.17
0.04 (0.81)
−0.13 (0.83)
Sleep efficiency
Qigong ()
0.87 (1.16)
0.72 (1.09)
−0.13
0.96 (1.26)
0.07
−0.15 (1.32)
0.09 (1.29)
0.651
0.522
Waitlist ()
1.09 (1.12)
0.79 (1.15)
−0.26
1.05 (1.26)
−0.03
−0.31 (0.97)
−0.04 (1.41)
Sleep disturbance
Qigong ()
1.64 (0.69)
1.40 (0.62)∗∗∗
−0.37
1.36 (0.63)∗∗∗
−0.42
−0.24 (0.52)
−0.28 (0.48)
2.802
0.062
Waitlist ()
1.73 (0.68)
1.63 (0.65)
−0.15
1.63 (0.61)
−0.15
−0.11 (0.61)
−0.11 (0.63)
Use of sleep medication
Qigong ()
0.31 (0.78)
0.28 (0.77)
−0.04
0.30 (0.75)
−0.01
−0.03 (0.83)
−0.01 (0.80)
0.220
0.803
Waitlist ()
0.26 (0.60)
0.32 (0.72)
0.09
0.34 (0.79)
0.11
0.05 (0.72)
0.08 (0.89)
Daytime dysfunction
Qigong ()
1.90 (0.82)
1.59 (0.94)
−0.35
1.52 (0.96)
−0.43
−0.32 (0.86)
−0.38 (0.92)
1.381
0.253
Waitlist ()
1.77 (0.77)
1.64 (0.75)
−0.17
1.53 (0.73)
−0.32
−0.12 (0.76)
−0.23 (0.83)
ChFS total
Qigong ()
37.4 (6.2)
25.6 (12.6)∗∗∗
−1.19
25.2 (12.7)∗∗∗
−1.22
−11.8 (11.4)∗∗∗
−12.2 (11.9)∗∗∗
16.650
<0.001
Waitlist ()
36.4 (8.3)
32.3 (9.7)∗∗∗
−0.45
31.1 (10.9)∗∗∗
−0.55
−4.1 (6.5)
−5.3 (7.8)
ChFS physical
Qigong ()
24.2 (4.0)
16.7 (8.0)∗∗∗
−1.19
16.2 (8.1)∗∗∗
−1.25
−7.5 (7.3)∗∗∗
−8.0 (7.5)∗∗∗
18.527
<0.001
Waitlist ()
23.0 (5.0)
20.6 (5.9)∗∗∗
−0.44
20.0 (6.7)∗∗∗
−0.51
−2.4 (4.1)
−3.1 (5.0)
ChFS mental
Qigong ()
13.2 (3.6)
9.0 (5.4)∗∗∗
−0.92
9.0 (5.3)∗∗∗
−0.93
−4.3 (4.9)∗∗∗
−4.3 (5.0)∗∗
9.290
<0.001
Waitlist ()
13.3 (4.5)
11.7 (4.6)∗∗∗
−0.35
11.2 (4.9)∗∗∗
−0.45
−1.7 (3.4)
−2.2 (3.7)
HADS Anxiety
Qigong ()
10.9 (3.7)
8.5 (4.0)∗∗∗
−0.62
8.8 (4.4)∗∗∗
−0.52
−2.3 (3.2)∗∗
−2.1 (3.7)∗
4.172
0.016
Waitlist ()
11.2 (3.6)
10.4 (4.0)∗
−0.21
10.2 (4.0)∗
−0.26
−0.8 (3.3)
−1.0 (3.3)
HADS depression
Qigong ()
9.4 (3.5)
6.6 (3.7)∗∗∗
−0.78
7.2 (4.1)∗∗∗
−0.58
−2.7 (3.5)∗∗∗
−2.1 (3.9)
10.262
<0.001
Waitlist ()
9.5 (3.4)
8.8 (3.9)∗
−0.19
8.5 (4.0)∗∗
−0.27
−0.7 (2.9)
−1.0 (3.0)
PSQI: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; ChFS: Chalder Fatigue Scale; HADS: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; SD: standard deviation; T0: baseline; T1: immediate postintervention; T2: 3-month postintervention.
aCompared with baseline using paired -test; bcompared the change score between groups using independent -test; crepeated measures ANCOVA adjusting for between-group difference in gender ratio. , and .