DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jx43
title: Feasibility of using remotely delivered Spring Forest Qigong to reduce neuropathic pain in adults with spinal cord injury: A pilot study

description: Introduction: Approximately 69% of 299,000 Americans with spinal
 cord injury (SCI) suffer debilitating chronic neuropathic pain, which is
 intractable to treatment. The aim of this study is to determine
 feasibility, as the primary objective, and estimates of efficacy of a
 remotely delivered Qigong intervention in adults with SCI-related
 neuropathic pain, as the secondary objective. Methods: We
 recruited adults with SCI-related neuropathic pain, with SCI
 ≥3 months, with complete or incomplete SCI, and highest
 neuropathic pain level of &gt;3 on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale
 (NPRS), using nationwide volunteer sampling. Using a non-randomized
 controlled trial design, participants practiced Spring Forest Qigong’s
 “Five Element Qigong Healing Movements” (online video) by combining
 movement to the best of their ability with kinesthetic imagery, at least
 3x/week for 12 weeks. Adherence was automatically tracked through
 the Spring Forest Qigong website. Outcomes of neuropathic pain intensity
 (NPRS) were assessed weekly, and SCI-related symptoms were assessed at
 baseline, 6, and 12 weeks of Qigong practice and at 6-week and
 1-year follow-ups. Results: We recruited 23 adults with chronic
 SCI (7/2021–2/2023). In total, 18 participants started the study and
 completed all study components, including the 6-week follow-up. Twelve
 participants completed the 1-year follow-up assessment. Feasibility was
 demonstrated through participants’ willingness to participate, adherence,
 and acceptability of the study. Mean age of the 18 participants was 60 ±
 12 years, and they were 15 ± 11 years post-SCI with the
 highest baseline neuropathic pain of 7.94 ± 2.33, which
 was reduced to 4.17 ± 3.07 after 12 weeks of Qigong practice
 (Cohen’s d = 1.75). This pain relief remained at 6-week
 and 1-year follow-ups. Participants reported reduced spasm frequency
 (change score 1.17 ± 1.20, d = 0.98) and severity (0.72
 ± 1.02, d = 0.71), reduced interference of neuropathic
 pain on mood (3.44 ± 2.53, d = 1.36), sleep (3.39 ±
 2.40, d = 1.41), daily activities (3.17 ±
 2.77, d = 1.14), greater ability to perform functional
 activities (6.68 ± 3.07, d = 2.18), and improved mood
 (2.33 ± 3.31, d = 0.70) after Qigong.
 Discussion: Remote Spring Forest Qigong’s “Five Element Qigong
 Healing Movements” practice is feasible in adults with SCI-related
 neuropathic pain, with promising prolonged results of neuropathic pain
 relief and improvement in SCI-related symptoms after Qigong practice.
 Clinical trial
 registration: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04917107, identifier NCT04917107
description: Responses to questionnaires were collected on the University of
 Minnesota REDCap platform Data were exported into an
 xls file
description: This readme.txt file was generated on &lt;20230502&gt; by
 Recommended citation for the data: will be completed upon publication of
 the article *** GENERAL INFORMATION --- 1. Title of Dataset: Data used for
 a non-randomized controlled trial of remote Qigong in adults with spinal
 cord injury-related neuropathic pain. 2. Author Information Principal
 Investigator Contact Information Name: Ann Van de Winckel Institution:
 Division of Physical Therapy, Division of Rehabilitation Science,
 Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Medical School, University of
 Minnesota Address: 420 Delaware ST SE (MMC388), Minneapolis, MN 55455
 Email: avandewi@umnn.edu ORCID: 0000-0001-8400-3177 Associate or
 Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Institution: Address: Email:
 ORCID: Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Institution:
 Address: Email: ORCID: 3. Date published or finalized for release: The
 information will soon be submitted to the journal JAMA Network Open 4.
 Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date)
 20210701-20230202 5. Geographic location of data collection (where was
 data collected?): Minnesota 6. Information about funding sources that
 supported the collection of the data: National Institutes of Health’s
 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant UL1TR002494;
 Internal funding by the Division of Physical Therapy, Department of
 Rehabilitation Medicine, Medical School, University of Minnesota 7.
 Overview of the data (abstract): This xls file contains brief
 clinical/behavioral data of adults with spinal cord injury-related
 neuropathic pain. *** SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION --- 1.
 Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: No release until publication of
 the manuscript 2. Links to publications that cite or use the data: JAMA
 Network Open (paper will be submitted soon) 3. Was data derived from
 another source? If yes, list source(s): 4. Terms of Use: Data Repository
 for the U of Minnesota (DRYAD) By using these files, users agree to the
 Terms of Use. *** DATA & FILE OVERVIEW --- 1. File List A.
 Filename: Remote Qigong for Dryad\_5.2.2023\_no identifiers Short
 description: xls file contains brief clinical/behavioral data of adults
 with spinal cord injury-related neuropathic pain <br> B.
 Filename:Short description: <br> C. Filename:Short description: 2.
 Relationship between files: *** METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION --- 1.
 Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: REDCap
 (community-dwelling adults with SCI) 2. Methods for processing the data:
 xls and regular statistical software packages 3. Instrument- or
 software-specific information needed to interpret the data: Regular
 statistical software packages 4. Standards and calibration information, if
 appropriate: NA 5. Environmental/experimental conditions: NA 6. Describe
 any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data: REDCap has a
 system in place that all cells need to be completed. 7. People involved
 with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: Van de
 Winckel Ann (principal investigator); Sydney Carpentier and Wei Deng
 (graduate students) *** DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: [FILENAME] --- 1.
 Number of variables:23 2. Number of cases/rows: 18 3. Missing data codes:
 colored spaces (gray) Code/symbol Definition Code/symbol Definition 4.
 Variable List: Ssee legend book in the xls file All variables are scores
 of assessments. There is no coding used to categorize variables.