Qigong vs. Tai Chi for Depressive Symptoms
August 24, 2015 -
Qigong and Tai Chi are the two most popular traditional
Chinese exercises, known as mind-body movement therapies. Previous studies
suggest that Qigong and Tai Chi may be beneficial in reducing depressive
symptoms.
In a new study reported by the journal Complementary therapies in
medicine in its August 2015 issue, Australian researchers performed the
first study to systematically review and compare the effects of Qigong and Tai
Chi on depressive symptoms.
A systematic search of six electronic databases was
undertaken through to February 2014, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
which reported depressive symptoms measured by a depressive symptom rating
scale. The standardized mean difference in depressive symptoms score between
Qigong or Tai Chi and a control group (at the end of follow-up) was extracted as
a primary outcome. The secondary outcome was the standardized mean gain in
symptom score (SMG) relative to the baseline from individual arms of the RCTs
for various forms of care including Qigong, Tai Chi, usual care, other exercise,
education and miscellaneous interventions.
Thirty studies with a total of 2328 participants (823
males and 1505 females) were included. A significant effect was found for the
Qigong interventions. There was no significant effect seen for Tai Chi for the
primary endpoint. No mean change in symptom scores were seen for Tai Chi, usual
care, other exercises, education and the 'miscellaneous' group in pre-post
assessment in single arms. The Qigong results were found to be robust in
sensitivity analyses.
Conclusions: Qigong appears to be beneficial for reducing
depressive symptom severity. However, given the low quality of the included
studies and the documented evidence of publication bias, these results should be
viewed cautiously. |