Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24400778›Full record

SynthesisBMC complementary and alternative medicine2014

Managing stress and anxiety through qigong exercise in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Chong-Wen Wang, Celia H Y Chan, Rainbow T H Ho, Jessie S M Chan, Siu-Man Ng, Cecilia L W Chan

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06006221 (The Effect of Qigong Intervention on State Anxiety Levels of Inpatiens in Psychiatric Wards), which is not on this map. Cited by 59 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
59citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06006221 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

The Effect of Qigong Intervention on State Anxiety Levels of Inpatiens in Psychiatric Wards: A Randomized Controlled Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorEmel Erdeniz GüreşRan2023 to 2023Enrolled70ConditionsPsychiatric DisorderArmsQi-gong relaxation exercise
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

59 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  2. The Use of Physical Activity in Coping with Test Anxiety Among Students: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Chong-Wen Wang
Celia H Y Chan
Rainbow T H Ho
Jessie S M Chan
Siu-Man Ng
Cecilia L W ChanCentre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, 5 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China. cecichan@hku.hk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn increasing number of studies have documented the effectiveness of qigong exercise in helping people reduce psychological stress and anxiety, but there is a scarcity of systematic reviews evaluating evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted among healthy subjects.

methodsThirteen databases were searched for RCTs from their inception through June 2013. Effects of qigong exercise were pooled across trials. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated for the pooled effects. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 test. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane criteria.

resultsSeven RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Two RCTs suggested that qigong exercise immediately relieved anxiety among healthy adults, compared to lecture attendance and structured movements only. Four RCTs suggested qigong exercise relieved anxiety (pooled SMD = -0.75; 95% CI, -1.11 to -0.40), and three RCTs suggested that qigong exercise reduced stress (pooled SMD = -0.88; 95% CI, -1.22 to -0.55) among healthy subjects following one to three months of qigong practice, compared to wait-list controls.

conclusionsThe available evidence suggests that qigong exercise reduces stress and anxiety in healthy adults. However, given the limited number of RCTs and their methodological flaws, further rigorously designed RCTs are needed.

Indexed as

Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicAnxietyExerciseHealthy VolunteersHumansQigongStress, Psychological

Identifiers

PMID24400778
PMCPMC3893407

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.