TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploratory outcome assessment of Qigong/Tai Chi Easy on breast cancer survivors
AU - Larkey, Linda
AU - Roe, Denise J.
AU - Smith, Lisa
AU - Millstine, Denise
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Office of Women’s Health) grant number 5 U01 AT002706-03 and the Arizona Cancer Center Support Grant ( P50 CA023074 ). Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center provided additional support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Objective Breast cancer survivors (BCSs) experience symptoms affecting overall quality of life (QOL), often for a prolonged period post-treatment. Meditative Movement (MM), including Qigong and Tai Chi Easy (QG/TCE), has demonstrated benefit for improving QOL issues such as fatigue and sleep, but there is limited evidence of its impact on cognitive function, overall physical activity, and body weight for BCSs. Design This double-blind, randomized controlled pilot study with 87 female BCSs explored effects of QG/TCE on mental and physical QOL (Medical Outcomes Survey, Short Form), cognitive function (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function and two cognitive performance tests from the WAIS III), overall levels of physical activity (PA)(Brief Physical Activity Questionnaire) and body mass index (BMI). Interventions Twelve weekly sessions of QG/TCE were compared to sham Qigong (SQG), a gentle movement control intervention similar to QG/TCE but without the focus on breathing and meditative state. Results Both groups demonstrated pre-to-post-intervention improvements in physical and mental health, level of PA, self-reported cognitive function, and cognitive performance tests, though without significant differences between QG/TCE and SQG. For a subset of women enrolled later in the study, a significant reduction in BMI [−0.66 (p = 0.048)] was found for QG/TCE compared to SQG. Conclusions Practices that include gentle movement (such as QG/TCE or our sham protocol) among women with a history of breast cancer may improve many facets of the cancer experience, including QOL, cognitive function, and PA patterns. Practicing QG/TCE may show some advantage for BMI reduction compared to non-meditative gentle exercise.
AB - Objective Breast cancer survivors (BCSs) experience symptoms affecting overall quality of life (QOL), often for a prolonged period post-treatment. Meditative Movement (MM), including Qigong and Tai Chi Easy (QG/TCE), has demonstrated benefit for improving QOL issues such as fatigue and sleep, but there is limited evidence of its impact on cognitive function, overall physical activity, and body weight for BCSs. Design This double-blind, randomized controlled pilot study with 87 female BCSs explored effects of QG/TCE on mental and physical QOL (Medical Outcomes Survey, Short Form), cognitive function (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function and two cognitive performance tests from the WAIS III), overall levels of physical activity (PA)(Brief Physical Activity Questionnaire) and body mass index (BMI). Interventions Twelve weekly sessions of QG/TCE were compared to sham Qigong (SQG), a gentle movement control intervention similar to QG/TCE but without the focus on breathing and meditative state. Results Both groups demonstrated pre-to-post-intervention improvements in physical and mental health, level of PA, self-reported cognitive function, and cognitive performance tests, though without significant differences between QG/TCE and SQG. For a subset of women enrolled later in the study, a significant reduction in BMI [−0.66 (p = 0.048)] was found for QG/TCE compared to SQG. Conclusions Practices that include gentle movement (such as QG/TCE or our sham protocol) among women with a history of breast cancer may improve many facets of the cancer experience, including QOL, cognitive function, and PA patterns. Practicing QG/TCE may show some advantage for BMI reduction compared to non-meditative gentle exercise.
KW - Body mass index
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Cancer survivorship
KW - Integrative oncology
KW - Meditative movement
KW - Qigong
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ctim.2016.10.006
DO - 10.1016/j.ctim.2016.10.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 27912947
AN - SCOPUS:84992700511
SN - 0965-2299
VL - 29
SP - 196
EP - 203
JO - Complementary Therapies in Medicine
JF - Complementary Therapies in Medicine
ER -