Context: Eight-section Brocades, a qigong protocol, has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms in older adults with chronic physical illness, but its positive effects on quality of life, such as subjective well-being, aren't known.
Objective: This study intended to evaluate the efficacy of qigong for increasing subjective well-being in older adults with chronic physical illness.
Design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted.
Setting: A governmental family clinic in Hong Kong.
Participants: Participants were 47 older adults, 19 males and 28 females, with chronic physical illness.
Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to an Eight-section Brocades group (n = 25) or a cognitive training group (n = 22). The groups received 12 weeks of the Eight-section Brocades intervention or of cognitive training, respectively.
Outcome measures: The primary outcome-subjective well-being-and the secondary outcomes-functional independence, sleep quality, mobility, and hand grip strength-were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and at a one-month follow-up.
Results: No significant between-group differences were observed in improvements in subjective well-being or any of the secondary outcomes. Significant improvements in subjective sleep quality and decreases in daytime dysfunction over time were reported by participants in both groups.
Conclusions: The findings didn't support 12 weeks of Eight-section Brocades qigong as an effective treatment to enhance the subjective well-being of older adults with chronic physical illness. These null findings may be due to the possibilities that: (1) the treatment may have minimal effects on positive psychology outcomes; (2) the primary outcome measure showed possible ceiling effects for the groups; (3) the current study used an active control condition that may have had more benefits than the control conditions used in previous studies; (4) the current study may have been underpowered; (5) more than 12 weeks (24 sessions) of qigong may be required to impact well-being; or (6) some combination of these factors may have affected the results.