Tai Chi and Wellness Interventions for Veterans with Gulf War Illness: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial
Author: Barbara L Niles1, Anica Pless Kaiser2, Thomas Crow3, Maria McQuade3, Craig Polizzi3, Carole Palumbo4, Maxine Krengel5, Kimberly Sullivan6, Chenchen Wang7, DeAnna L Mori5
Affiliation:
1 National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, 150 South Huntington Avenue (Office 12B-53C), Boston, MA, 02130, USA. Barbara.Niles@va.gov.
2 National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, 150 South Huntington Avenue (Office 12B-53C), Boston, MA, 02130, USA.
3 National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA.
4 VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston University, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
5 VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
6 Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
7 Tuft Medicine and Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Conference/Journal: Int J Behav Med
Date published: 2024 Dec 16
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s12529-024-10338-7. , Word Count: 273
Background:
Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multi-symptom illness that affects up to one-third of the 700,000 American military personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf region in 1990 and 1991. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine feasibility and the relative efficacy of two 12-week in-person group treatments (Tai Chi and Wellness) to address GWI symptoms of chronic pain, fatigue, and changes in mood and cognitive functioning.
Method:
Male and female veterans were randomly assigned to Tai Chi (n = 27) or Wellness (n = 26) group interventions and assessed at four time points: baseline, post-treatment, 3-, and 9-month follow-up. Multilevel models with a treatment-by-time interaction term were utilized to evaluate treatment effects and changes in GWI-related outcomes over time.
Results:
Satisfaction was high, there were no adverse events, and over half the participants attended 75% or more sessions with no significant differences between groups. For pain interference, analyses revealed a significant quadratic effect of time with no differences between treatment groups. For general fatigue and a cognitive test of trail making, no significant effects were detected. For depressed mood, linear and quadratic time effects and the group x linear time interaction were significant indicating greater reductions for Tai Chi participants. For a verbal learning test, linear and quadratic time and the group x quadratic time interaction significantly predicted total recall with Tai Chi participants demonstrating more rapid initial improvements.
Conclusion:
Findings indicate that both Tai Chi and Wellness are feasible and acceptable. Both interventions may have a salutary impact on pain interference, depression, and verbal learning with some advantages for Tai Chi.
Keywords: Complementary; Gulf War Illness; Integrative; Tai Chi; Veteran; Wellness.
PMID: 39681780 DOI: 10.1007/s12529-024-10338-7
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