A placebo-controlled trial of ‘one-minute qigong exercise' on the reduction of blood pressure among patients with essential hypertension

Background Hypertension, defined as the persistent elevation of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and can lead to cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and renal morbidity and mortality if untreated. In Malaysia, primary hypertension among adults is relatively high and a large proportion of cases remains undiagnosed. Qigong is a traditional Chinese exercise that has been shown to have positive health effects. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 5-day ‘one-minute qigong exercise’ programme on the reduction of blood pressure among patients with primary hypertension. Methods An open-label, parallel-group, controlled trial was conducted among participants with essential hypertension who were staff of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The participants were assigned to either the ‘one-minute qigong exercise’ programme or control, and underwent respective sessions for 5 consecutive days. The outcomes – SBP and DBP – were measured by standardised assessors using manual mercury sphygmomanometers. Repeated measures ANCOVA was performed to compare groups over time. Results At the end of the study, 21 (56.8%) and 25 (92.6%) participants remained in the qigong and control groups, respectively. Overall, there was no significant within- or between-group effect for mean SBP, while there was a marginally significant difference in mean DBP at the DBP×Group interaction level (P=0.049). Mean DBP on day 2 was statistically significantly different between groups (P=0.041). Conclusion Our study showed that the ‘one-minute qigong exercise’ programme, carried out over a period of 5 consecutive days, offers no additional benefit to control in reducing blood pressure in persons with primary hypertension.