From Body to Mind and Spirit: Qigong Exercise for Bereaved Persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Like Illness.

Abstract

Bereavement may bring negative impacts on the mind, body, and spiritual well-being of grieving persons. Some bereaved persons with chronic fatigue syndrome- (CFS-) illness experience a dual burden of distress. This study investigated the effects of bereavement on CFS-like illness by comparing bereaved and nonbereaved participants. It also adopted a random group design to investigate the effectiveness of Qigong on improving the well-being of bereaved participants. The Qigong intervention comprised 10 group sessions delivered twice a week for 5 weeks and home-practice for at least three times a week lasting 15-30 minutes each. The participants' fatigue, anxiety, and depression, quality of life (QoL), and spiritual well-being were measured at baseline and 3 months after treatment. The bereaved participants experienced significantly greater mental fatigue (16.09 versus 14.44, p = 0.017) and lower physical QoL (34.02 versus 37.17, p = 0.011) than their nonbereaved counterparts. After 3 months, the mental fatigue (-8 versus -4, p = 0.010) and physical fatigue (-10 versus -5, p = 0.007) experienced by intervention group had declined significantly, and improvements on their spirituality (14 versus -2, p = 0.013) and psychological QoL (8.91 versus 0.69, p = 0.002) scores exceeded those of the control group.

• Authors: Jie Li, Jessie S M Chan, Amy Y M Chow, Lai Ping Yuen, Cecilia L W Chan
• Journal: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM (Evid Based Complement Alternat Med) Vol. 2015 Pg. 631410 ( 2015) ISSN: 1741-427X [Print] United States
• PMID: 26504478 (Publication Type: Journal Article)