Qigong and frailty: research overview

Not medical advice. This page lists research about qigong and frailty. It does not say whether qigong works for any person or condition. Talk to a qualified health professional before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have a medical condition.

Studies in PubMed

17 (tagged with “Frailty” as a major topic)

Years

2020–2026

Registered trials

4 on ClinicalTrials.gov

Types of studies

Each study is counted once, under its strongest type in this order: meta-analysis, systematic review, randomized controlled trial, clinical trial, review, observational study.

Studies, newest first

1. Effectiveness of an Augmented Reality-Assisted Baduanjin on Multidimensional Frailty Among Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facility: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial. — Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2026 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
2. Four-Limb Coordinated Training and Neuroplasticity in Older Adults with Cognitive Frailty: Mechanisms and Clinical Evidence. — Clinical interventions in aging, 2026 · DOIReview
3. Baduanjin Exercise, With or Without Vitamin D, Outperforms Vitamin D Alone in Reducing Frailty Among Institutionalized Older Adults: A Cluster-Based Randomized Controlled Trial. — Nutrients, 2025 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
4. Effects of exercise interventions on cognition, physical function and quality of life among older adults with cognitive frailty: A systematic review and meta-analysis. — Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.), 2025 · DOISystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
5. Mind-body training outperforms other physical activities in reducing frailty and enhancing quality of life in older adults: a network meta-analysis. — Frontiers in public health, 2025 · DOISystematic Review
6. Sitting Baduanjin Combined With Acupoint Massage on Frailty in Patients Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. — JMIR research protocols, 2025 · DOI
7. The effect of qigong on frailty in older cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial. — Age and ageing, 2025 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
8. The effects of the generative adversarial network and personalized virtual reality platform in improving frailty among the elderly. — Scientific reports, 2025 · DOI
9. Baduanjin exercise intervention trial: research protocol of a randomised controlled trial for frail kidney transplant recipients. — BMJ open, 2024 · DOI
10. Effect of Baduanjin exercise on executive function in older adults with cognitive frailty: A randomized controlled trial. — Clinical rehabilitation, 2024 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
11. Intervention of muscle-building and antifrailty exercise combined with Baduanjin for frailty of different functional levels: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. — BMJ open, 2023 · DOI
12. A pilot randomized controlled trial using Baduanjin qigong to reverse frailty status among post-treatment older cancer survivors. — Journal of geriatric oncology, 2022 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
13. Baduanjin exercise for balance function in community-dwelling older adults with cognitive frailty: a randomized controlled trial protocol. — BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2022 · DOI
14. Does social participation decrease the risk of frailty? Impacts of diversity in frequency and types of social participation on frailty in middle-aged and older populations. — BMC geriatrics, 2022 · DOI
15. Exercise interventions for older people with cognitive frailty-a scoping review. — BMC geriatrics, 2022 · DOI
16. The Effectiveness of a Hybrid Exercise Program on the Physical Fitness of Frail Elderly. — International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022 · DOI
17. Effects of a traditional Chinese mind-body exercise, Baduanjin, on the physical and cognitive functions in the community of older adults with cognitive frailty: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. — BMJ open, 2020 · DOI

Registered clinical trials

Government health information

The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health summarizes the evidence on qigong.

Study list: PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine), citation data only. Trials: ClinicalTrials.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: PubMed (NLM citation data, free to use (abstracts not reproduced)); ClinicalTrials.gov (Public domain (U.S. Government work)); NCCIH (Public domain (U.S. Government work)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.