Fatigue is an extremely common side effect experienced during cancer treatment and recovery. Limited research has investigated strategies stemming from complementary and alternative medicine to reduce cancer-related fatigue. This research examined the effects of Reiki, a type of energy touch therapy, on fatigue, pain, anxiety,and overall quality of life. This study was a counterbalanced crossover trial of 2 conditions: (1) in the Reiki condition, participants received Reiki for 5 consecutive daily sessions, followed by a 1-week washout monitoring period of no treatments, then 2 additional Reiki sessions, and finally 2 weeks of no treatments, and (2) in the rest condition, participants rested for approximately 1 hour each day for 5 consecutive days, followed by a 1-week washout monitoring period of no scheduled resting and an additional week of no treatments. In both conditions, participants completed questionnaires investigating cancer-related fatigue (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Fatigue subscale [FACT-F]) and overall quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy, General Version [FACT-G]) before and after all Reiki or resting sessions. They also completed a visual analog scale (Edmonton Symptom Assessment System [ESAS]) assessing daily tiredness, pain, and anxiety before and after each session of Reiki or rest. Sixteen patients (13 women) participated in the trial: 8 were randomized to each order of conditions (Reiki then rest; rest then Reiki). They were screened for fatigue on the ESAS tiredness item, and those scoring greater than 3 on the 0 to 10 scale were eligible for the study. They were diagnosed with a variety of cancers, most commonly colorectal (62.5%) cancer, and had a median age of 59 years. Fatigue on the FACT-F decreased within the Reiki condition (P = .05) over the course of all 7 treatments. In addition, participants in the Reiki condition experienced significant improvements in quality of life (FACT-G) compared to those in the resting condition (P < .05). On daily assessments (ESAS) in the Reiki condition, presession 1 versus postsession 5 scores indicated significant decreases in tiredness (P < .001), pain (P < .005), and anxiety (P < .01), which were not seen in the resting condition. Future research should further investigate the impact of Reiki using more highly controlled designs that include a sham Reiki condition and larger sample sizes. 

疲勞是在癌症治療和恢復期間經歷的極其常見的副作用。 有限的研究調查了補充和替代醫學的策 略，以減少癌症相關的疲勞。 這項研究調查了靈氣，一種能量觸摸療法，對疲勞，疼痛，焦慮和 整體生活質量的影響。 這項研究是一個平衡的交叉試驗的兩個條件：（1）在靈氣條件下，參與者 收到靈氣連續 5 個常規療程，然後是一個星期沒有治療的沖洗監測期，然後 2 個額外的靈氣療程， 最後是（2）在休息條件下，參加者每天休息約 1 小時，連續 5 天，隨後進行為期 1 週的休息監測期，沒有預定的休息和額外的一周不處理。 在這兩種情況下，參與者完成了前後調查癌症相關疲勞（癌症治療疲勞分數量表功能評估[FACT-F]）和總體生活質量（癌症治療功能評估[FACT-G]） 的調查問卷靈氣或休息療程。 他們還完成了一個視覺模擬量表（埃德蒙頓症狀評估系統[ESAS]）， 評估每一次靈氣或休息之前和之後每天的疲倦，疼痛和焦慮。 16 名患者（13 名婦女）參加了試驗： 8名隨機分配到每個條件（靈氣然後休息;休息然後靈氣）。 他們在ESAS疲勞項目中被篩選出是疲勞者， 那些 0 到 10 分的評分大於 3 的人都有資格進行研究。 他們被診斷為多種癌症，最常見的是結直腸癌 （62.5％），平均年齡 59 歲。 所有 7 個治療過程中，在靈氣狀況下（F = 0.05），FACT-F 上的疲勞降低。 此外，與休息狀態相比，靈氣條件下的參與者的生活質量（FACT-G）顯著改善（P <.05）。在靈氣狀況下的日常評估（ESAS）中，療程前=1 相對於 療程後=5 評分顯示，顯示在休息狀態下未見疲勞（P <.001），疼痛（P <.005）和焦慮（P <.01）都顯著下降。未來的研究應該進一步調查靈氣的影響， 使用更高度的控制設計，包括假靈氣條件和更大的樣本量。

邱鈺婷譯