Qigong Therapy for Stress Management: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background/objective: Althouth Qigong is commonly used to manage stress, anxiety, and depression, there have been no systematic reviews on Qigong therapy for stress management. This study aimed to analyze the clinical evidence of Qigong therapy for perceived stress.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Qigong using 11 electronic databases, namely MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, CINAHL, and Korean Medical databases (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, Korean traditional knowledge portal, KoreaMed, OASIS, RISS, and the National Library of Korea). We considered RCTs in which participants with perceived stress with no restrictions on age, gender, or ethnicity. Two reviewers independently assessed risk of bias of the included RCTs using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Nine RCTs (China: n = 5, South Korea: n = 2, United States: n = 1, Brunei Darussalam: n = 1) were included in the systematic review.

Results: The quality of the included trials was generally low, as only one was rated as high quality. For the primary outcome, a meta-analysis of two RCTs showed statistically significant results on the perceived stress scale comparing the Qigong therapy group with the no-treatment group (OR -0.60; 95% CI -1.02 to -0.17; p = 0.006). The results of three other studies showed that Qigong therapy had no significant effect compared to active-control therapy on the perceived stress scale outcome (OR -2.10; 95% CI -4.68 to 0.47; p = 0.11). Regarding the secondary outcomes, including depression, anxiety scale, and quality of life, the Qigong group showed statistical improvements in most studies; however, there was no difference in the pain scale between the two groups. In two studies, no adverse events occurred, whereas in one study, six cases (24% of participants) of mild muscle soreness were reported.

Conclusions: This systematic review suggests the potential of Qigong therapy for stress management; however, it is difficult to draw specific conclusions. Future studies should standardize Qigong interventions and outcomes, establish sham control groups, and include larger sample sizes in RCTs.