Overview
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).
Description
forty idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) patients will be randomly assigned into two equal groups (n=20)
- Study group (20 patients) this group will be supervised daily, except Fridays, during the 60-minute session of 12-week BET) or waitlist group
- Control group (20 patients)
Eligibility
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.