The effects of qigong on reducing stress, anxiety and enhancing body-mind wellbeing

xxi, 329 p. : ill. ; 30 cm.PolyU Library Call No.: [THS] LG51 .H577P APSS 2011 ChowBackground and purpose: Stress-related comorbid illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, hypertension, and heart disease are responsible for considerable disability worldwide. Few studies have investigated the therapeutic value of qigong. Using a combination of psychological and physiological approaches, the intent of this study was to investigate whether practicing qigong helps to reduce stress and anxiety, thus enhancing body-mind well-being. Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted using a Repeated Measures design. Thirty-four healthy middle-aged adults participated in an 8-week qigong program. Their outcomes were compared with 31 matched subjects in the waitlist control group and 34 participants from a psychology class. The outcome measures included measures of mood states (DASS-21), quality of life (ChQOL), and physiological measures of stress (salivary cortisol level and blood pressure). GLM was used to analyze the data of the 3 groups collected in the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 12th follow-up weeks. Results: In week 8, significant main effects were found in cortisol level (F= 5.733, p = 0.02) and blood pressure (F = 4.587, p = 0.036) between the qigong and the waitlist groups. Significant Time x Group interaction effects were found in stress (F = 4.558, p = 0.014), depressiveness (F = 4.375, p = 0.016), the ChQOL scales (F = 3.059, p = 0.011) and cortisol levels (F = 5.108, p = 0.027). In week 12, two groups differed substantially as indicated by the main effects in the DASS-21 scales (F = 6.377, p = 0.014), the ChQOL scales (F = 6.042, p = 0.017), cortisol level ( F = 15.908, p ≤ 0.001), blood pressure (F = 6.212, p = 0.015), as well as the interaction effects in the DASS-21 scales (F = 3.247, p = 0.003), the ChQOL scales (F = 4.996, p ≤ 0.001), cortisol levels (F = 11.047, p ≤ 0.001), and heart rate (F = 5.566, p = 0.002). Significant differences were also found between the qigong group and the psychology group in all outcome measures (p ≤ 0.05) except heart rate. In general, the qigong participants enjoyed better quality of life and mood states with lower cortisol levels and blood pressure than the two other groups. Conclusion: The present findings support the concept that qigong has positive effect on reducing stress, anxiety and enhancing body-mind well-being. In this study, we re-packaged a traditional qigong exercise into a systematic workout structure, and demonstrated its potential effects on mood regulation as illustrated by both psychological and physiological measures.Department of Applied Social SciencesPh.D., Dept. of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 201