Can prolong life with nine turn method (Yan Nian Jiu Zhuan) Qigong alleviates Fatigue, Sleep quality, Depression and anxiety on Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: a Randomized, Controlled, Clinical Study ?

Background Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex disease with unknown etiology and mechanism. Prolong life with nine turn method (PLWNT) Qigong is a system of mind-body exercise with restorative benefits that have shown a wide range of benefits in the treatment of CFS. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of PLWNT Qigong exercise on CFS with a focus on fatigue, sleep quality, depression and anxiety. Methods A total of 135 participants were randomly divided into treatment groups and control group in the same proportion. The treatment groups received PLWNT Qigong exercise (PLWNT Group) or cognitive behavioral therapy treatment (CBT Group). The healthy control group (HC Group) does not receive any treatment and maintains daily life. Participants from treatment groups were taught by related highly qualified professor at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine once a week and were supervised online during the remaining 6 days at home, over 12 consecutive weeks. The primary outcome was fatigue (MFI-20) and secondary outcomes were sleep quality (PSQI), anxiety and depression (HADS). All groups were measured at baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1). Results 134 patient completed the study (45 in the PLWNT Group, 44 in the CBT Group and 45 in HC Group). The within group comparison of PLWNT and CBT groups were all showed significant improvement in MFI-20, PSQI and HADS after the intervention (p༜0.05). No significant difference was found between the PLWNT group and CBT group(p༞0.05),but the total effective rate of the PLWNT group was 62.22%, which was higher than the CBT group was 50.00%. The changes in the PLWNT group and CBT group were all higher than those in the HC group except for habitual sleep efficiency and sleep medicine using(p༜0.05). In additional, fatigue degree changes in the PLWBT group were positively correlated with sleep degree (r=0.315) and anxiety degree(r=0.333), but only anxiety degree(r=0.332) was found to be positively correlated with fatigue in the CBT group. Conclusion PLWNT Qigong exercise has the potential as a rehabilitation method on CFS with a focus on fatigue, sleep quality, anxiety and depression. Yet, the results need to be interpreted carefully and needs to be repeated in a larger sample. Future studies will expand the sample size for further in-depth research to determine the frequency and intensity of PLWNT Qigong intervention that is particularly beneficial to CFS. The study registered in the American Clinical Trial Registry on 4 November 2018, the registration number is NCT03496961.