The therapeutic effect of Reiki therapy on fatigue intervention: A meta-analysis

Purpose This meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate the therapeutic effect of Reiki therapy on fatigue intervention, providing evidence-based reference for clinical practice and exploring potential influencing factors. Methods As of May 2025, we conducted systematic searches on Embase, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science. Two authors independently carried out screening, data extraction, and bias assessment, employing the Cochrane ROB 1.0 tool for these procedures. We used Review Manager (RevMan 5.4.1) software for meta-analysis to narratively synthesize the remaining results. Results This meta-analysis study involved a total of 576 participants aged 18 and above. The findings indicated that Reiki therapy exerted a beneficial effect on fatigue intervention. (SMD = -2.86,95% CI -3.88 ~ -1.84, P < 0.0001). Subgroup analysis further indicated that among cancer patients and those with chronic diseases, an offline reiki therapy intervention lasting for 4 weeks, with a duration of 20 ~ 30 minutes and a total of 8 ~12 intervention times, was most effective in relieving fatigue. Conclusions Offline Reiki therapy interventions lasting for 4 weeks, 20 to 30 minutes, and a total of 8 ~12 intervention times have been proven to effectively relieve fatigue in cancer patients and those with chronic diseases. However, due to the limited sample size, short-term nature and different intervention details of the existing studies, further high-quality studies are needed to verify the long-term efficacy and optimize the intervention.