Effect of five-elements music therapy combined with Baduanjin qigong on patients with mild COVID-19

BACKGROUND: To investigate the physical and psychological effects of five-element music therapy combined with Baduanjin qigong treatment on inpatients with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan. METHODS: A mixed-methods study was used. In the quantitative study, a randomized controlled trial was performed on 40 study participants divided into a control group (n = 20) and an intervention group (n = 20). The Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Self-rating Depression Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were compared. For qualitative analysis, it adopted purposive sampling method, 13 patients of different ages from 18 to 60 years old and different exercise behavior were selected as the participants from the intervention group. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect data, and the content analysis method was used for data analysis. An interview outline was developed to assess the psychological condition and personal functional-exercise behavior of patients. RESULTS: In the quantitative study, the anxiety self-scores and depression self-scores of patients in intervention group were significantly lower compared with control group after treatment (p < .05). The sleep quality of intervention group was significantly improved compared with control group (p < .001). Participants in the qualitative study responded to questions posed through semi-structured interviews. The effect of intervention was good, which has been supported and recognized by patients. CONCLUSION: The treatment of five-element music therapy combined with Baduanjin qigong on patients with mild COVID-19 alleviated anxiety and depression, and improved sleep quality, which was beneficial to the patients’ physical and psychological recovery.