Effectiveness of Liu-zi-jue exercise on coronavirus disease 2019 in the patients: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of Liu-zi-jue exercise on the respiratory symptoms, quality of life, and mental health of patients with mild coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19). METHODS: A single-center randomized controlled trial was conducted with 104 patients with mild COVID-19. The patients were randomly assigned to the Liu-zi-jue plus conventional therapy group and conventional therapy group. The outcome measures included Modified Borg Dyspnea Scale(MBDS) score, Patient Health Questionnaire-9(PHQ-9) score, Fatigue Scale-14(FS-14), respiratory symptoms, and vital signs. Data were collected on the first and sixth days of hospitalization and on the discharge day. RESULTS: Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed that the whole scales all showed a downward trend in the two groups(all P < 0.05). The results of single-group effect suggested that the whole scale score in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group at the sixth day of hospitalization. Compared with the control group, only the MBDS, expectoration, and FS-14 scores showed significantly lower scores at the discharge day(P < 0.001, P = 0.011, P = 0.002). Comparison within the group showed that all the variables were significantly different at the three time points with a decreasing trend(P < 0.05), except for the PHQ-9 and expectoration scores(P = 0.331, 0.052). All patients’ vital signs remained within a stable normal range throughout the hospital stay. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that Liu-zi-jue exercise as a complementary and alternative therapy showed beneficial effects on improving the symptoms(shortness of breath, fatigue, and cough), quality of life, and mental health of patients with mild COVID-19.