Randomized controlled trial testing Tai Chi Easy/Qigong and Sham Qigong on breast cancer survivors' fatigue and associated symptoms

Abstract

Background and purpose: Fatigue is the most frequently reported symptom among breast cancer survivors (BCSs). Interventions using Tai Chi and Qigong improve fatigue and related symptoms for BCSs when compared to controls; less is known about sham Qigong (i.e., gentle exercise without meditative state or breath focus).

Materials and methods: Fatigued BCSs <10 years post-treatment, aged 45-75, stages 0-III, were randomized to 8 weeks of once-weekly, 60-min sessions of Tai Chi Easy/Qigong (TCQ) (n = 57), Sham Qigong (SQG) (n = 53), or an education support (ES) control (n = 57). Self-reported fatigue (Fatigue Symptom Inventory), sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), anxiety/depression (Profile of Mood States) and cognitive function (FACT-COG) were assessed at pre-, post-, and 24-weeks post intervention.

Results: Participants (N = 167, Mean age = 59.87; 93.41 % White; 20.96 % Hispanic) reported improvements in cognitive function in TCQ (and SQG) compared to ES. TCQ participants with moderate fatigue significantly improved compared with ES on sleep, anxiety, and cognition (p < 0.05). SQG showed significant improvement over ES for sleep and cognitive function (p < 0.05). All intervention/control groups (p < 0.05) showed within-group improvements in sleep, anxiety and cognition for those moderately fatigued, and improvements in fatigue for severely fatigued participants.

Conclusion: While significant improvements found for TCQ compared to ES were limited to cognitive factors, within-group improvements over time for fatigue, sleep, anxiety, and cognitive factors were found for TCQ, SQG and ES. Gentle exercise, including TCQ, may be an appropriate intervention to address sleep, anxiety and cognition, especially for moderately fatigued BCSs, and for fatigue for severely fatigued BCSs.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Exercise; Fatigue; Qigong; Survivors; Tai chi.