Qigong for healthcare: an overview of systematic reviews.
Author: Lee MS, Oh B, Ernst E.
Affiliation:
Brain Disease Research Centre, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine , Daejeon, South Korea.
Conference/Journal: JRSM Short Rep.
Date published: 2011 Feb 7
Other:
Volume ID: 2 , Issue ID: 2 , Pages: 7 , Word Count: 176
OBJECTIVES: Qigong has been recommended to improve health and
prevent disease but the evidence is inconclusive. The aim of this overview was
to critically evaluate all systematic reviews (SRs) of qigong for the treatment
of any condition or symptom. DESIGN: Literature
searches were carried out in 11 electronic databases for all systematic reviews
of the effectiveness of qigong in any indication. Reviews were defined as
systematic if they included an explicit and repeatable methods section
describing the search strategy and explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria. SETTING: Retrospective
review of medical database. PARTICIPANTS: Participants
with any type of medical conditions of any severity were included. MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURES: Evidence from each systematic review. RESULTS: Ten
systematic reviews were included. They related to a wide range of conditions.
The primary studies and several of the reviews were associated with a high risk
of bias. Five reviews concluded that qigong is effective and five reviews were
inconclusive. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness
of qigong is based mostly on poor quality research. Therefore, it would be
unwise to draw firm conclusions at this stage.
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