Effects of chan-chuang qigong on improving symptom and psychological distress in chemotherapy patients

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of Chan-Chuang qigong on symptoms distress and psychological distress of breast cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy. A quasi-experimental design was adopted. Subjects were recruited from breast cancer outpatients receiving chemotherapy at an 1800-bed medical center in Taipei, Taiwan. Of these subjects, 35 were assigned to the control group and 32 to the experimental group in which Chan-Chuang qigong was administered. Assignment was not random. The instruments included a 21-item symptom distress scale and psychological distress with the symptom checklist-90-revised. Data of the symptoms and psychological distress were collected on the day before chemotherapy as baseline values, and also collected on days 8, 15 and 22 of chemotherapy. The results showed that the overall severity of symptom distress in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group on day 22 (p < 0.05). The symptoms with significant improvement included pain, numbness, heartburn and dizziness (p < 0.05). With regard to psychological distress, the difference of overall severity between the two groups was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, the items of 'unwillingness to live' (p < 0.05) and 'hopelessness about the future' (p < 0.05) were significantly improved in the experimental group. In conclusion, Chan-Chuang qigong had the effect of attenuating the symptom distress and probably some part of the psychological distress of chemotherapy patients.