Chinese Medicine, 2010, 1, 39-42
doi:10.4236/cm.2010.12007 Published Online September 2010 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/cm)
Research on Depression, A nxiety and Memory of
Subhealth after Practicing Jianshenqigong-Wuqinxi
Yan Wang1, Changle Chen 2, Zhang Zhang3
1School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology,
Shanghai, China
2Shanghai Qigong Institute, Shanghai, China
3Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
Received May 26, 2010; revised July 27, 2010; accepted August 8, 2010
Abstract
Objective: To study the effect of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi on subhealth problems including de-
pression, anxiety, and memory loss. Methods: 1) 80 cases with subhealth problem were randomly divided
into two groups. 40 cases practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi were used as test group, and the other 40 un-
practicing cases were used as control group. 2) The test group was practising Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi one
hour in the morning five times per week for three months. 3) Scores of subhealth status such as depression
and anxiety were evaluated once every two weeks, while the memory test was performed once a month. 4)
Data analysis: SPSS11.0 software was used for statistical analyses. Data were shown in mean ± SEM. Dif-
ference was considered significant if the t-test P value is less than 0.05. Results: 1) Scores of subhealth state
and depression were significantly lower in test group than those of control group. The beneficial effects of
practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi were more obvious for the subjects in the test group who had practiced
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for two to twelve weeks (P < 0.05). 2) Scores of anxiety test were significantly
lower in test group than those of control group after practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for six to twelve
weeks (P < 0.05). 3) Scores of memory were significantly higher in test group th an those of co ntrol group (P <
0.05). Conclusions: 1) Practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi could promote health in people who have sub-
health mental problems. 2) Practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi could relieve depression, anxiety while en-
han c e me mor y .
Keywords: Subhealth, Depression, Anxiety, Jianshenqigong-Wuqinxi
1. Introduction
Subhealth is a kind of status between health and disease,
which has no precise definition but is generally defined
as low physical activity and adaptability regularly occur.
It has been reported from WHO that there are more than
70 percent people in the world are in subhealth status
[1,2]. In China the subhealthy people are about 60 to 70
percent, most of which are between 35 to 45 years old.
The Chinese in subhealth conditions have exceeded 7
million according to recent data [3,4]. For those people
they are often disturbed by bad feelings such as depres-
sion, anxiety, panic, short breath, listlessness, dizziness,
headache, insomnia, etc. Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi mim-
ics five animals’ appearances and actions such as tiger,
deer, bear, monkey, and crane. And it is a kind of mildly
intense aerobic exercise, which makes vasodilatation,
regulates autonomic nerve, increases venous return and
enhances body sensibility. It was supposed that practic-
ing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi could relieve the bad feel-
ings characteristic of subhealthy people. To discover the
mechanism of physiological and psychological changes
of Jianshenqigong·wuqinxi on subheathy people, we ob-
serve the effects of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi
on depression, anxiety, and memory loss of subhealthy
people.
2. Methods
1) 80 cases (not hospitalized patients) with subhealth
selected from Tianlin community and Muyang hospital
were randomly divided into 2 groups. Subjects in the test

Y. WANG ET AL. 40
group (40 cases) were practicing Jianshenqigong
·wuqinxi, while subjects in the control group (40 cases)
did not practice Jianshenqigong·wuqinxi.
2) The test group was practicing Jianshenqigong-
wuqinxi one hour in the morning five ti mes per week for
three months.
3) Scores of subhealth staus such as depression and
anxiety were evaluated once every two weeks, while the
memory test was evaluated once a month.
4) Index of test:
a) The diagnosis of subhealth was according to the
Fukuda complete text of revised case definition in Ame-
rican control disease center (CDC) in 1994 [5]. Nine
items were tested in diagnosis of subhealth. The sub jects
should answer each item as yes or no. If the answer was
yes, 1 score would be added (except the first item). Two
scores would be added for the first item. After all the
items were finished, the person whose score more than 6
was considered as in subhealth status.
b) Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating
Anxiety (SAS) tables were used in depression and anxi-
ety test accordingly. Twenty items were tested in calcu-
lation of scores of SDS and SAS. Each item has 4 grades.
The first grade is ‘no’, the second is ‘some time’, the
third is ‘many time’ and the forth is ‘most or all the time’.
SDS scores less than 40 were ‘normal’, between 40 and
60 were ‘mild depress’, more than 60 were ‘heavy de-
press’. SAS scores less than 40 were ‘normal’ between
40 and 60 were ‘mild anxiety’ more than 60 were ‘heavy
anxiety’.
c) Memory test: a list of random numbers or letters
was presented on a computer screen at the rate of one per
two seconds. The subjects being tested were asked to
recall the items in order, and if they are correct, the
computer would record the length of the numbers or let-
ters as the memory of the subjects. The test began with
two numbers, increasing until the subjects committed
twice errors. Recognizable patterns (for example 2, 4, 6,
8) should be avoided [6].
5) Data analysis: SPSS11.0 software was used. Data
were shown in mean ± SEM. Difference was considered
significant at P < 0.05.
3. Rerults
1) Scores of subhealthy state (Table 1) were signifi-
cantly lower than that of control group. The beneficial
effects of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi were more
obvious for the subjects in the test group who had prac-
ticed Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for two to twelve weeks
(P < 0.05). There were also significant difference of sub-
health scores in control group before and after two to
twelve weeks (P < 0.05).
2) Scores of anxiety (Table 2) of test group were sig-
Table 1. Scores of subhealth after practicing Jianshen-
qigong-wuqinxi for twelve weeks.
Time（weeks） Control group Test group
0 6.45 ± 0.36 6.40 ± 0.40
2 6.1 ± 0.7☆ 5.20 ± 1.45☆△
4 6.18 ± 0.76☆ 4.95 ± 1.74☆△
6 6.03 ± 1☆ 4.65 ± 1.52☆△
8 5.88 ± 1.19☆ 4.53 ± 1.54☆△
10 5.75 ± 1.16☆ 4.38 ± 1.24☆△
12 5.78 ± 1.48☆ 4.5 ± 1.51☆△
☆There was significant difference when compared with before
practicing (P < 0.05); △There was significant difference when
compare d with control group (P < 0.05).
Table 2. Anxiety scores of subhealth after practicing Jian-
shenqigong-wuqinxi for twelve we eks.
Time（weeks） Control group Test group
0 36.8 ± 7.86 36.8 ± 7.38
2 36.5 ± 6.74 35.5 ± 7.91
4 36 ± 8.12 34.7 ± 7.14
6 35.8 ± 8.08 32.5 ± 6.77☆△
8 36.0 ± 8.12 32.1 ± 7.55☆△
10 35.5 ± 8.31 32.4 ± 7.79☆
12 35.6 ± 8.52 31.9 ± 7.52☆△
☆There was significant difference when compared with before
practicing (P < 0.05); △There was significant difference when
compare d with control group (P < 0.05).
nificantly lower than that of control group. The benefi-
cial effects of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi were
more obvious for the subjects in the test group who had
practiced Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for six to twelve
weeks (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference of
anxiety scores in control group before and after two to
twelve weeks (P > 0.05).
3) Scores of depression (Table 3) of test group were
significantly lower than that of control group. The bene-
ficial effects of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi were
more obvious for the subjects in the test group who had
practiced Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for two to twelve we e k s
(P < 0.05). There was no significant difference of anxiety
scores in control group before and after two to twelve
weeks (P > 0.05).
4) Scores of memory (Table 4) were higher in test
group than that of control group. The beneficial effects
of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi were more obvi-
ous for the subjects in the test group who had practiced
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for twelve weeks (P < 0.05).
There was no significant difference of memory scores in
control group before and after two to twelve weeks (P >
0.05).

Y. WANG ET AL. 41
Table 3. Depression scores of subhealth after practicing
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for twelve weeks.
Time（weeks） Control group Test group
0 40.68 ± 9.12 40.40 ± 8.86
2 39.90 ± 9.88 36.08 ± 9.47☆△
4 39.85 ± 9.98 35.78 ± 9.52☆△
6 39.53 ± 8.86 35.73 ± 8.79☆△
8 39.38 ± 8.88 35.60 ± 8.90☆△
10 38.92 ± 7.92 35.06 ± 9.15☆△
12 38.64 ± 8.61 35.34 ± 8.46☆△
☆There was significant difference when compared with before
practicing (P < 0.05); △There was significant diff erence when co m-
pared with c ontrol group (P < 0.05).
Table 4. Memory (digits) test of subhealth after practicing
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi for twelve weeks.
Time（weeks） Control group Test group
0 7.28 ± 2.53 7.13 ± 1.94
4 7.28 ± 2.53 7.63 ± 1.92
8 7.18 ± 2.23 8.2 ± 2.61
12 7.17 ± 2.47 8.86 ± 2.00☆△
☆There was significant difference when compared with before prac-
ticing (P < 0.05); △There was significant difference when compared
with control group (P < 0.05).
4. Conclusions
1) Practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi could promote
health in people who have subhealth mental problems.
2) Practicing Jianshenqigong·wuqinxi could relieve
bad feelings such as depression, anxiety of subhealth
people and enhance memory.
5. Discussions
Many researchers have observed the effect of practicing
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi on different people. Jing-mei
Wu found after 3-month practicing, Jianshenqigong-
wuqinxi could improve the immunity of the people, and
the immunity ability of woman practitioners grew even
faster [7]. Ding-hai Yu found after 6-month exercise of
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi, the NK cell activity of exercis-
ers in the experimental group was higher than that before
exercise and control group [8]. But no scientific work
studied the effect of Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi on sub-
health people and no people observed the physiological
and psychological changes of practicers. We discovered
the effects of practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi on
subhealth mental problems. Subhealth status is charac-
terized by panic, short breath, dizziness, headache, in-
somnia, etc.
Subhealth is the major cause of many diseases [9].
People with subhealth problems could become severely
ill later in their lifetime, which were highly correlated
with their subhealth problems [10]. Therefore optimal
intervention of subhealth problems is necessary. In our
experiment we found that there were significant differ-
ence of subhealth scores between Jianshenqigong-
wuqinxi practitioners and controls (Ta ble 1), which sug-
gested Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi could promote mental
health of people who have subhealth problems. Com-
parison with controls, more cases of subhealthy practic-
ers became mentally healthy after practicing Jianshen-
qigong-wuqinxi for 3 months, suggesting the beneficial
effects of Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi.
It was reported that tai chi could regulate psychologi-
cal health of subhealthy people, and relieve bad feelings
such as lassitude, memory loss, irritable, anxiety, insom-
nia, etc [11]. Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi is a kind of mildly
intense aerobic exercise just like tai chi. From our ex-
periment we found practicing Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi
could relieve bad feelings such as anxiety (Table 2) and
depression (Table 3), while enhance memory (Table 4).
The reasons might be as follows: a) Jianshenqigong-
wuqinxi is a kind of exercise that can regulate bad feel-
ings such as anxiety and depression through releasing of
biological macromolecules such as adrenocorticotropic
hormone, cortisol, catecholamine, opioid peptides, etc.
These molecules are believed to be beneficial to psycho-
logical status [12,13]. b) Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi has
multiple mental stages. Psychological self-regulating was
required for practicing each stage of Jianshenqigong-
wuqinxi. For example, when practicing the stage of ‘ti-
ger-xi’, the practitioners will mimic a powerful tiger.
When practicing the stage of ‘deer-xi’, the practitioners
will mimic a gentle deer. Such changes of psychological
stages were reported to be beneficial to reducing bad
feelings [14].
It is therefore concluded that the effects of practicing
Jianshenqigong-wuqinxi have significant beneficial ef-
fects on improving the overall mental health of people
suffering from subhealth problems.
6. Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants awarded to Chen
Chang-le from the General Administration of Sport of
China (QG200093), and to Yan Wang from Science and
Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality
(Outstanding Youth Foundation of University of Shang-
hai for Science and Technology).
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