From Body to Mind and Spirit: Qigong Exercise for Bereaved Persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Like Illness.
Bereavement may bring negative impacts on the mind, body, and spiritual well-being of grieving persons. Some bereaved persons with chronic fatigue syndrome- (CFS-) illness experience a dual burden of distress. This study investigated the effects of bereavement on CFS-like illness by comparing bereaved and nonbereaved participants. It also adopted a random group design to investigate the effectiveness of Qigong on improving the well-being of bereaved participants. The Qigong intervention comprised 10 group sessions delivered twice a week for 5 weeks and home-practice for at least three times a week lasting 15-30 minutes each. The participants' fatigue, anxiety, and depression, quality of life (QoL), and spiritual well-being were measured at baseline and 3 months after treatment. The bereaved participants experienced significantly greater mental fatigue (16.09 versus 14.44, p = 0.017) and lower physical QoL (34.02 versus 37.17, p = 0.011) than their nonbereaved counterparts. After 3 months, the mental fatigue (-8 versus -4, p = 0.010) and physical fatigue (-10 versus -5, p = 0.007) experienced by intervention group had declined significantly, and improvements on their spirituality (14 versus -2, p = 0.013) and psychological QoL (8.91 versus 0.69, p = 0.002) scores exceeded those of the control group.
Renmin University of China, 59 Zhongguancun Street, 1007 Block D, Huixian Building, Haidian, Beijing 100872, China.
Jie
J
Li
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong ; Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Jessie S M
JS
Chan
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Amy Y M
AY
Chow
International Association for Health and Yangsheng, Happy Valley, Hong Kong.
Lai Ping
LP
Yuen
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong ; Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Cecilia L W
CL
Chan