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Qigong and exercise therapy for elderly patients with chronic neck pain (QIBANE): a randomized controlled study

PainSci » bibliography » Trott et al 2009
updated
Tags: neck, exercise, treatment, head/neck, spine, self-treatment

Two articles on PainSci cite Trott 2009: 1. The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain2. The Complete Guide to Neck Pain & Cricks

PainSci notes on Trott 2009:

This study of qigong — an ancient Chinese form of therapeutic exercise, similar to t’ai chi — found that it had no effect whatsoever on chronic neck pain in elderly patients. Qigong has been a popular prescription for older clients. It’s full of claims and legends of healing power. I am extremely skeptical of these claims. I saw some neat things in my years of practicing qigong and martial arts, but never anything spooky — just amazing physicality. The results of this study do not surprise me at all: I wouldn’t expect qigong to do much for neck pain, except perhaps a minor benefit from the stimulation of rhythmic movement.

Perhaps more or better qigong would have done the trick: but how much more? Exactly what kind of qigong? The experiment was not perfect, but it’s still useful: if three months of garden variety qigong can’t produce any therapeutic effect for neck pain, it’s probably not worth busting a gut trying to do more and better qigong.

original abstract Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of qigong compared with exercise therapy and no treatment. Elderly patients with chronic neck pain >6 months) were randomly assigned to qigong or exercise therapy (each 24 sessions over a period of 3 months) or to a waiting list control. Patients completed standardized questionnaires at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. The main outcome measure was average neck pain on the visual analogue scale after 3 months. Secondary outcomes were neck pain and disability (NPAD) and quality of life (SF-36). One hundred seventeen patients (age, 76 +/- 8 years, 95% women) were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. The average duration of neck pain was 19.0 +/- 14.9 years. After 3 months, no significant differences were observed between the qigong group and the waiting list control group (visual analogue scale mean difference, -11 mm [CI, -24.0; 2.1], P = .099) or between the qigong group and the exercise therapy group (-2.5 mm [ - 15.4; 10.3], P = .699). Results for the NPAD were similar (qigong vs waiting list -6.7 (-15.4; 2.1), P = .135; qigong vs exercise therapy 2.3 (-6.2; 10.8); P = .600). We found no significant effect after 3 months of qigong or exercise therapy compared with no treatment. Further studies should include outcomes more suitable to elderly patients, longer treatment, and patients with less chronic pain.

PERSPECTIVE: In a randomized controlled study, we evaluated whether a treatment of 24 qigong sessions over a period of 3 months is (1) superior to no treatment and (2) superior to the same amount of exercise therapy in elderly patients (age, 76 +/- 8 years, 95% women) with long-term chronic neck pain (19.0 +/- 14.9 years). After 3 and 6 months, we found no significant differences for pain, neck pain, disability, and quality of life among the 3 groups.

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