Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38691272›Full record

Trial reportJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2025

Comparative effect of Tai Chi and aerobic exercise on cognitive function in advanced lung cancer survivors with perceived cognitive impairment: a three-arm randomized controlled trial with mediation analysis.

Naomi Takemura, Denise Shuk Ting Cheung, Daniel Yee Tak Fong, Anne Wing Mui Lee, Tai-Chung Lam, James Chung-Man Ho, Tsz Yeung Kam, Jeannie Yin Kwan Chik, Chia-Chin Lin

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04119778 (Improving Sleep in Lung Cancer Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04119778 nacompletednot on this map

Improving Sleep in Lung Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Aerobic Exercise and Tai-chi Interventions

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe University of Hong KongRan2019 to 2022Enrolled226ConditionsSleepArmsAerobic Exercise, Tai chi
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Methodology of analysis of cognitive impairment in longitudinal randomized clinical trials in oncology: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  3. The Science of Tai Chi andJournal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Naomi TakemuraSchool of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Denise Shuk Ting CheungSchool of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Daniel Yee Tak FongSchool of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Anne Wing Mui LeeDepartment of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Guangdong, China.
Tai-Chung LamDepartment of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Guangdong, China.
James Chung-Man HoDepartment of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Tsz Yeung KamDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Chai Wan, Hong Kong.
Jeannie Yin Kwan ChikDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Chia-Chin LinSchool of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong. chia.chin.lin@hku.hk.
University of Hong Kong · HKAlice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital · CNPamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital · CNQueen Elizabeth Hospital · CNUniversity of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeCancer-related cognitive impairment is prevalent in metastatic lung cancer survivors. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of aerobic exercise and Tai Chi on perceived cognitive function and the mediating role of psychoneurological symptoms with perceived cognitive impairment.

methodsIn a subgroup of a parent randomized clinical trial, participants who reported cognitive impairment underwent a 16-week aerobic exercise (n = 49), Tai Chi (n = 48), and control (n = 54) groups. Measures included perceived cognitive function and psychoneurological symptoms (sleep disturbance, fatigue, anxiety, and depression) assessed at baseline (T0), 16-week (T1), and 1 year (T2).

resultsParticipants in Tai Chi showed significant improvements compared to aerobic exercise and control groups in perceived cognitive function at T1 (AE: between-group difference, 6.52; P < 0.001; CG: 8.34; P < 0.001) and T2 (AE: between-group difference, 3.55; P = 0.05; CG: 5.94; P < 0.001). Sleep disturbance, fatigue, anxiety, and depression at month 12 explained 24%, 31%, 32%, and 24% of the effect of the intervention on cognitive function at month 12, respectively. Only anxiety at month 4 explained 23% of the intervention effect at month 12.

conclusionsTai Chi demonstrated beneficial effects on cognitive function in advanced lung cancer survivors with perceived cognitive impairment. Improvement in cognitive function was mediated by reducing sleep disturbance, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, highlighting the importance of addressing these symptoms in future interventions to improve cognitive function, with anxiety playing a significant role at an earlier stage. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Tai Chi is a potentially safe complementary therapeutic option for managing cognitive impairment in this vulnerable population.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04119778; retrospectively registered on 8 October 2019.

Indexed as

Cancer SurvivorsCognitive DysfunctionExerciseLung NeoplasmsTai JiAgedCognitionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedAerobic exerciseCognitive functionLung cancerRandomized controlled trialTai Chi

Identifiers

PMID38691272
PMCPMC12546297
OpenAlexW4396545985

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.