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A comparison of the effects of medical Qigong and standard exercise therapy on symptoms and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Patients with advanced cancer frequently experience anxiety, depression and poor quality of life (QOL), as well as physical symptoms such as fatigue and weakness. Physical exercise has potential to help control these symptoms but the optimal training prescription is still not clear. We performed a study comparing medical Qigong (QG) and standard endurance and strength training (SET) in patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung (NSCLC) and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.

Methods

A randomized, cross-over study was performed in patients with advanced NSCLC and GI cancers receiving or eligible for chemotherapy. Patients received supervised QG or SET twice-weekly for 6 weeks. Psychological functioning, QOL, symptoms and physical functioning were assessed before and after each intervention period.

Results

Nineteen patients completed both interventions. Comparing interventions revealed no difference between QG and SET on change in anxiety or depression scores or QOL. However, SET treatment was better at improving perceived strength (P = 0.05) and walking distance (P = 0.02). The order in which interventions were performed had a significant impact on the improvement in certain symptoms (sleep quality, breathlessness, P < 0.05), QOL (P = 0.01) and walking distance (P = 0.008). In all cases, the beneficial effects of the exercise interventions were markedly reduced during the second interval.

Conclusions

QG and SET are equivalent in their impact on many aspects of psychological function in cancer patients. However, SET leads to greater improvements in exercise capacity and helps reduce some symptoms. The reduction in beneficial effect of SET on exercise function when offered as the second intervention is a new finding that warrants further study.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Hope & Cope Wellness Centre and the Physiotherapy Department at the Jewish General Hospital for access to perform the study, including performing the exercise interventions and evaluations. We thank other members of the McGill Cancer Nutrition Rehabilitation Program for assistance in recruitment of patients and Professor Maureen Simmonds for valuable advice at the planning stages of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGill Cancer Nutrition Rehabilitation Program, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, Room E-809, 3755 Ch de la Cote-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada

    B. L. Vanderbyl, C. Nash, A. T. Tran, T. Windholz, T. Swanson & R. T. Jagoe

  2. School of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    M. J. Mayer

  3. Peter Brojde Lung Cancer Centre, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada

    A. T. Tran, G. Kasymjanova & R. T. Jagoe

Authors
  1. B. L. Vanderbyl
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  2. M. J. Mayer
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  3. C. Nash
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  4. A. T. Tran
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  5. T. Windholz
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  6. T. Swanson
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  7. G. Kasymjanova
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  8. R. T. Jagoe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. T. Jagoe.

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Funding

AT Tran and RT Jagoe received salary support from the Peter Brojde Lung Cancer Centre and RT Jagoe received salary support from the Backler Foundation, Jewish General Hospital Foundation. The McGill Cancer Nutrition Rehabilitation Clinic at the Jewish General Hospital received financial support from funds raised by the Angel Ball, Stephen and Lillian Vineberg and the Lila Sigal Hockey Marathon.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary Figure 1

Questions used to assess satisfaction of exercise interventions (GIF 180 kb).

High Resolution Image (TIFF 198 kb).

Supplementary Figure 2

Change in quality of life scores with QG and SET Summary data for change (mean ± sem) in quality of life (increase in score is better) after first exercise intervention (T1) and after second exercise intervention (T2) (N = 19). Change in total FACT-G score (A), physical well-being (PWB; B) and functional well-being (FWB; C) declines and is significantly different for Total and PWB comparing first and second exercise intervention intervals (T1 vs T2: # P < 0.05). The interaction term exercise x order was significant (P = 0.02) for FWB. (GIF 211 kb).

High Resolution Image Notes (TIFF 86 kb).

Table S1

Baseline characteristics of 19 patients who completed both exercise interventions (DOCX 14 kb).

Table S2

Complete symptom scores, quality of life and physical function at baseline in the 24 patients who completed the first exercise intervention (DOCX 16 kb).

Table S3

Symptom scores, quality of life and physical function at baseline in the 19 patients who completed both exercise interventions (DOCX 21 kb).

Table S4

Pooled results for 19 patients who completed both exercise interventions (DOCX 17 kb).

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Vanderbyl, B.L., Mayer, M.J., Nash, C. et al. A comparison of the effects of medical Qigong and standard exercise therapy on symptoms and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer. Support Care Cancer 25, 1749–1758 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3579-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3579-x

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