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Neurophysiological RCT of Qigong in Elderly With Depression
Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Summary
Summary of Project: Elderly depression is a common mood disorder and the individuals will have persistent low mood and self-absorption that adversely affect their quality of life. Cognitive deficits including attention and executive function are commonly seen in elderly with depression. Qigong, a mind-body practice, is found to have an anti-depressive effect and improve cognitive functions. Yet, the underlying mechanism is still elusive. Hence, the present study aims to conduct a randomized controlled trial to investigate how the practice of Eight-Section Brocades, a type of qigong, affects the function of the central nervous system in elderly with depression, as measured by fNIRS. A total of 60 elderly (based on power analysis 80% (β= 0.20) chance (α = 0.05, two-tailed)), aged 65 or above, with depressive mood as indicated by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) will be recruited and randomly assigned to the treatment (eight-section brocades) and control (exercise) groups. We anticipate that this ancient Chinese mind-body based practice will result in (1) decreased depressive moods and improved cognitive functions, and (2) acute changes in the functional brain activation patterns in the PFC in elderly with depression. The results of this study will shed light on the neurophysiological underpinnings of the therapeutic effects associated with qigong, which will be invaluable for designing intervention for elderly with depression.
Official title: A Randomized Controlled Neurophysiological Study of Qigong in Elderly With Depression
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
65 Years - 80 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
60
Start Date
2021-08-09
Completion Date
2026-03
Last Updated
2025-09-19
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Qigong
Eight-Section Brocades Practice: The treatment group will undergo an 8-week Eight-Section Brocades intervention program consists of a total of 16 group training sessions with two 1-hour sessions per week. The treatment group participants will be provided with health qigong exercise in a group format led by qualified qigong instructors. All the health qigong instructors will be trained by a certified Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner with an expertise in health qigong and they are required to pass the certification examination before delivering health qigong intervention at the clinical settings. The Eight-Section Brocades protocol will be used in this study because it is easy to learn by the participants and the clinical effects on psychosocial health were evidenced in previous RCTs. A complete cycle of the Eight-Section Brocades took 12 minutes for completion, which consists of eight sequential and simple forms of movements.
Exercise
Exercise Program: Participants in the control group will attend a physical exercise program for 8 weeks (1-hour sessions, 2 times a week). The exercise program will incorporate aerobic fitness, strength training, body weight workouts, balance training, flexibility and stretching into the training plan. The exercise program is provided in a group format, which will be led by qualified physical trainer.
Locations (1)
Buddhist Ho L.F. Tak Elderly Social Centre
North Point, HK Island, Hong Kong