The Effects of Qigong on Anxiety, Depression, and Psychological Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Summary & key facts

This review looked at 15 studies (published 2001–2011) to see whether Qigong affects anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. The authors pooled three studies of people with type II diabetes and found small-to-moderate effect sizes suggesting reduced depression and anxiety and better diabetes-specific quality of life, but the statistical uncertainty was large for some outcomes. The reviewers also judged the overall research methods to be poor, so the results are preliminary and more high-quality studies are needed.

Key facts:

• The review included 15 studies published between 2001 and 2011 that tested Qigong for mood, anxiety, depression, or quality of life.
• Studies were grouped into three subject types: healthy people, people with chronic illnesses, and people with depression.
• A meta-analysis of three studies in patients with type II diabetes found an effect size for depression of ES = −0.29 (95% CI, −0.58 to 0.00).
• In the same meta-analysis, the effect size for anxiety was ES = −0.37 (95% CI, −0.66 to 0.08).
• For psychological well-being measured by a diabetes-specific quality-of-life scale, the pooled effect size was ES = −0.58 (95% CI, −0.91 to 0.25).
• The authors judged the overall methodological quality of the published studies to be poor and noted that existing studies had significant limitations, so their conclusions are tentative.

Abstract

Introduction. The effect of Qigong on psychological well-being is relatively unknown. This study systematically reviewed the effects of Qigong on anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. Methods. Using fifteen studies published between 2001 and 2011, a systematic review was carried out and meta-analyses were performed on studies with appropriate homogeneity. The quality of the outcome measures was also assessed. Results. We categorized these studies into three groups based on the type of subjects involved as follows: (1) healthy subjects, (2) subjects with chronic illnesses, and (3) subjects with depression. Based on the heterogeneity assessment of available studies, meta-analyses were conducted in three studies of patients with type II diabetes in the second group, which suggested that Qigong was effective in reducing depression (ES = -0.29; 95% CI, -0.58-0.00) and anxiety (ES = -0.37; 95% CI, -0.66-0.08), as measured by Symptom Checklist 90, and in improving psychological well-being (ES = -0.58; 95% CI, -0.91-0.25) as measured by Diabetes Specific Quality of Life Scale. Overall, the quality of research methodology of existing studies was poor. Conclusions. Preliminary evidence suggests that Gigong may have positive effects on psychological well-being among patients with chronic illnesses. However the published studies generally had significant methodological limitations. More high-quality studies are needed.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Health Sciences Medicine

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