Baduanjin Qigong for Alleviating Musculoskeletal Pain and Improving Sleep Quality
A group of researchers from several Chinese universities performed the first systematic review with meta-analyses of the existing studies that examined mindfulness-based Baduanjin exercise for its therapeutic effects for individuals with musculoskeletal pain or insomnia.
Both English- and Chinese-language electronic databases were used to search relevant articles. We used a modified PEDro scale to evaluate risk of bias across studies selected. All eligible Random Clinical Trials (RCTS) were considered for meta-analysis. The standardized mean difference was calculated for the pooled effects to determine the magnitude of the Baduanjin intervention effect. For the moderator analysis, we performed subgroup meta-analysis for categorical variables and meta-regression for continuous variables.
The aggregated result has shown a significant benefit in favor of Baduanjin at alleviating musculoskeletal pain and improving overall sleep quality.
The researchers concluded that mindfulness-based Baduanjin exercise may be effective for alleviating musculoskeletal pain and improving overall sleep quality in people with chronic illness. Large, well-designed RCTs are needed to confirm these findings.
Their findings are published in January, 2018 by the International journal of environmental research and public health.