Impacts Of Taichi-qigong And Walking On Salvia Production Among Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Survivors: An RCT Study

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) is one of the leading head and neck cancers. The major side effect of NPC treatment is reduced saliva production, which affects the quality of life, including difficulties in chewing & swallowing, appetite loss, altered taste, and speech disorder. Evidence-based exercise interventions are essential for optimizing recovery strategies for NPC survivors, so as to address their unique challenges and to improve their overall health outcomes. PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness of TaiChi-Qigong (TCQ) and walking on salvia production among NPC Survivors. METHODOLOGY: A total of 109 NPC survivors were randomly assigned to one of three groups: TCQ (n = 37), walking (n = 36), or control (n = 36). Participants in TCQ and walking groups underwent a 12-week intervention, with 3 sessions of one-hour face-to-face training sessions per week. The control received no intervention. All three groups received three health talks over the 12 weeks intervention and another 12 weeks after post-intervention period. RESULT: Two-way ANCOVA (covariates with age, gender, and cancer stages) revealed significant group-by-time interactions in saliva production (p < 0.001). After 12 weeks of intervention, the TCQ group demonstrated a significant improvement in salvia production compared with walking (TCQ vs. WK: MD 0.72, 95% CI 0.35, 1.01, p < 0.001) and control (TCQ vs. CON: MD 1.19, 95% CI 0.80, 1.58, p < 0.001) group. Furthermore, walking also demonstrated significant improvement compared with the control (WK vs. CON: MD 0.47, 95% CI 0.09, 0.85, p = 0.01) group. After 12 weeks of post-intervention, the TCQ group continued to show significant improvements in saliva production compared to both the walking and control groups (p < 0.001). Similarly, the walking group also exhibited significant enhancements in saliva production when compared to the control group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Both the TCQ and walking interventions not only yielded immediate benefits during the 12 weeks of the intervention period but also sustained their positive effects 12 weeks after training, which suggests that TCQ was equally effective as walking for enhancing saliva production in participants. Supported by: Direct Grant, The Chinese University of Hong Kong