# Tai Chi Qigong and matched exercise show similar sleep outcomes in older male cancer survivors

- Published: 2026-11-07 05:45 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Medicine
- Tags: Tai Chi Qigong cancer survivors, sleep quality Pittsburgh index, exercise matched trial, male oncology survivorship, geriatric sleep research, Brain Medicine trial
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-ad84c145664db4225ebf4eb0_tai_chi_qigong/

**A randomized trial in 113 older male cancer survivors found modest short-term sleep improvements without statistically significant differences between interventions.**

![Tai Chi Qigong and matched exercise show similar sleep outcomes in older male cancer survivors](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/fbfa658f7546d63c.jpg)
*NASA, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain*

In a three-arm randomized controlled trial published in Brain medicine :, researchers evaluated the effects of Tai Chi and Qigong against an exercise intensity-matched program and usual care on sleep quality in older male cancer survivors [1]. The study enrolled 113 men aged 55 years and older with a mean age of 69.1 years, conducted across sites in New Brunswick and Albuquerque [1]. Participants were assigned to usual care or one of two 12-week group programs delivered twice weekly, with progress tracked using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index through 12 months [1].

## Between-arm and within-arm outcomes

At three months post-intervention, linear contrasts revealed no statistically significant differences in sleep quality between the study arms [1]. However, the intensity-matched exercise cohort demonstrated statistically significant within-arm improvements from baseline at the 6-week midpoint (p = 0.004), one week post-intervention (p = 0.048), and three months post-intervention (p = 0.011) [1]. The Tai Chi and Qigong arm exhibited nonsignificant trends toward within-arm improvement across identical intervals [1]. At the three-month mark, the exercise cohort also demonstrated a statistically significant increase in sleep efficiency compared to the Tai Chi and Qigong group (p = 0.04) [1].

## Long-term follow-up and trial parameters

By 12 months of follow-up, statistically significant effects had subsided across all arms [1]. At this annual endpoint, 62% of participants in the Tai Chi and Qigong arm reached clinical remission of sleep disturbance with an index score of 5 or lower, compared to 47% in the exercise arm and 43% under usual care, though between-arm variance remained non-significant (p > 0.05) [1].

Attendance rates were closely matched between groups, reaching 78.4% for Tai Chi and Qigong and 76.8% for the exercise cohort [1]. The authors noted that observed score shifts remained below the three-point threshold required for clinically meaningful changes, concluding that both movement regimens produced modest short-term improvements without demonstrating superiority over one another [1].

## Sources

1. [Brain medicine :](https://doi.org/10.61373/bm026a.0063)
2. [EurekAlert](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1150936)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-ad84c145664db4225ebf4eb0_tai_chi_qigong/