Efficacy of Baduanjin Exercise in COVID-19 Contraction Patients With Idiopathic Chronic Fatigue

Cairo University (CU)

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Chronic COVID-19 Syndrome

Treatments: Other: Baduanjin exercise training (BET)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06829940

P.T.REC/012/005517

Details and patient eligibility

About

Post-COVID recovery is associated with reduced functional fitness/capacity, low quality of life, and physical disabilities in those who survived after contracting the disease. The unpleasant symptoms of chronic post-viral/post-COVID syndrome (chronic fatigue perception, variant nonspecific myalgia, bad mood or depression, and insomnia or sleep disturbances) usually magnify the symptoms of already existing previously diagnosed concurrent untreatable chronic disorders , including the idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF).(Leszczak et al., 2024)

Baduanjin exercise training (BET) is one of the Chinese traditional Health-Qigong exercises that not only integrate slow coordinating postures/positions, breathing techniques, musculoskeletal stretching movements/positions, and meditative mind but also plays a strong role concerning health benefits (e.g. musculoskeletal pain-reducing, sleep disturbance-enhancing effects, and fatigue-reducing effects) (Zou et al., 2018).

Full description

forty idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) patients will be randomly assigned into two equal groups (n=20)

1. Study group (20 patients) this group will be supervised daily, except Fridays, during the 60-minute session of 12-week BET) or waitlist group
2. Control group (20 patients)

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• • 40 patients will be recruited in the study.

  • age ≥ 18 to ≤ 50 years old
  • achieved three diagnostic items/criteria of ICF will be included in this BET trial: Fatigue lasting over 6 months, which significantly limits daily activities, reducing the person's usual activity level by more than 50%, as confirmed by a doctor.

At least three of the following symptoms:

Generalized muscle weakness Difficulty sleeping Frequent headaches A painful throat Muscle tenderness throughout the body Migratory joint pain Swollen lymph nodes in the neck or armpits Fatigue lasting more than a day after typical activities

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with a history of medical or complementary treatments for ICF disorder in the 6 months before contracting COVID or after recovery.
• Individuals who have engaged in therapeutic exercise, pharmacological treatments, or complementary therapies for post-COVID symptoms within the last six months prior to enrollment.
• ICF patients regularly using antidepressants or antipsychotics were excluded.
• Those who take sleeping pills regularly were also excluded.
• Patients with autoimmune diseases, malignant conditions, anemia, endocrine disorders, systemic diseases, or osteoarthritis affecting the cervical spine, lumbar region, or limbs were excluded.
• Individuals with abnormal results in laboratory tests, including neurological, neurophysiological, cardiological, liver/kidney function tests, or urine/stool analyses (as determined by a physician) were excluded.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Baduanjin exercise training

Experimental group

Description:

Each BET session consisted of a 10-minute warm-up and a 10-minute cool-down period \[Xia et al., 2023\]. These were followed by a 40-minute BET segment, which typically involved eight distinct body postures. These postures are based on the "Health Qigong Baduanjin Standard," as outlined in Zhao et al. \[2019\] and Koh \[1982\]. The eight postures are: (1) Support the Heaven, (2) Draw a Bow to Each Side, (3) Hold Up a Single Hand, (4) Practice Looking Back, (5) Shake the Hand and Wag the Tail, (6) Touch the Feet with Both Hands, (7) Climbing with Both Hands, and (8) Relax the Back, as explained in Zeng et al. \[2020\]

Treatment:

Other: Baduanjin exercise training (BET)

waitlist

No Intervention group

Description:

this group will receive no intervention