From Kevin Chen

Dear Friends of Qigong,

As some of you may know, I am going to give a keynote speech and a workshop at the coming NQA annual conference in Maryland (Aug 8-10). In my 3-hours workshop (Saturday afternoon) I am going to talk about "What We Know about the Scientific Research of Qigong in the US and How to Collect Valid Data to Support Qigong and Tai Chi Teaching and Practice.” Here is the description from the conference: “Understanding the type of data and information sought by the scientist and healthcare professional alike is key to creating a successful collaborative relationships with them. In this workshop you will be presented with an overview of specific scientific data about qigong healing which provides the best support for qigong promotion and healthcare utilization. Hands on methods to document valid case reports and collect reliable data will be shared, along with samples of popular health related questionnaires which will be distributed and analyzed in class. You will get a better sense of what qigong learners are looking for and examine methods to work collaboratively with your clients and students in identifying their improvements in physical and mental health."

At this workshop, I am going to distribute some practical forms that the attendants can use in their instruction and teaching to track the progress and improvement in health and healing after Taiji and qigong practice. I would like to get your input on this list of scales to be used in this observational study: Here is what in my list so far:

· Basic demographic survey, including gender, age, ethnicity, education, religiosity, body mass index, brief history of CAM participation, and major health concern.

· SF-36 (36 items) -- Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, including both physiological and psychological health domain (subscales include limitation of activities, physical health problems, emotional health problems, energy and emotion, and general health). This is one of the most popular scales used in health outcomes study.

· CES-Depression (20 items) Center for Epidemiology StudyDepression Scale is one of most popular mental health scales used in self-administered survey study, supported by National Institute of Mental Health. It measure both positive and negative affects in the past week with the possibility to approximate the severity of depressive mood.

· Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) -- State only (20 items)

· Perceived Stress Scale (10 items),

· Positive-affect Negative-affect Scale, (20 items)

· Self-esteem & self-efficacy scale, (16)

· Perceived Quality of life Scale (20),-- a measure to assess satisfaction with everyday functions

· Health-care utilization survey (NHIS) questionnaire used in National Health Interview Survey to estimate how much people use healthcare like seeing doctor, buy prescribed drugs and hospitalization…. The results of this part can be compared with the results of national sample of the similar age, gender and ethnical groups.


Most of these scales or modules will be measured at baseline, 1 month, 3, 6, 9, 12 months. --- each instructor may determine their actual use interval in reality.

Did I miss something important? If you would run such a study or use such an instrument for your teaching, what you would like to include? Please feel free to make comments and suggestions on this.

Eventually, we will make these scales available on internet to do the data entry, data analysis and comparison online.....

There is no funding for this project at this moment. I am doing it because there is demand for it....

Thank you for your prompt attention, comment and suggestion on this matter.

Kevin

**** Please note my new affiliation and email ****
Kevin W Chen, Ph.D. MPH
Associate Professor
Center for Integrative Medicine,
University of Maryland School of Medicine,
2200 Kernan Drive, Kernan Hospital Mansion,
Baltimore, MD 21207-6697

Tel: 410-448-6876; Fax: 410-448-6875;
Email: kchen@compmed.umm.edu