Evidence base of clinical studies on Tai Chi: a bibliometric analysis - PubMed (original) (raw)

Meta-Analysis

Evidence base of clinical studies on Tai Chi: a bibliometric analysis

Guo-Yan Yang et al. PLoS One. 2015.

Abstract

Background: The safety and health benefits of Tai Chi mind-body exercise has been documented in a large number of clinical studies focused on specific diseases and health conditions. The objective of this systematic review is to more comprehensively summarize the evidence base of clinical studies of Tai Chi for healthcare.

Methods and findings: We searched for all types of clinical studies on Tai chi in PubMed, the Cochrane Library and four major Chinese electronic databases from their inception to July 2013. Data were analyzed using SPSS17.0 software. A total of 507 studies published between 1958 and 2013 were identified, including 43 (8.3%) systematic reviews of clinical studies, 255 (50.3%) randomized clinical trials, 90 (17.8%) non-randomized controlled clinical studies, 115 (22.7%) case series and 4 (0.8%) case reports. The top 10 diseases/conditions was hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis or osteopenia, breast cancer, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, schizophrenia, and depression. Many healthy participants practiced Tai Chi for the purpose of health promotion or preservation. Yang style Tai Chi was the most popular, and Tai Chi was frequently practiced two to three 1-hour sessions per week for 12 weeks. Tai Chi was used alone in more than half of the studies (58.6%), while in other studies Tai Chi was applied in combination with other therapies including medications, health education and other physical therapies. The majority of studies (94.1%) reported positive effects of Tai Chi, 5.1% studies reported uncertain effects and 0.8% studies reported negative effects. No serious adverse events related to Tai Chi were reported.

Conclusions: The quantity and evidence base of clinical studies on Tai Chi is substantial. However, there is a wide variation in Tai Chi intervention studied and the reporting of Tai Chi intervention needs to be improved. Further well-designed and reported studies are recommended to confirm the effects of Tai Chi for the frequently reported diseases/conditions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1

Fig 1. Flow diagram.

Presentation of the procedure of study searching and selection with numbers of articles at each stage.

Fig 2

Fig 2. Study designs over time in the numbers of published clinical studies on Tai Chi.

Abbreviation: SR, systematic review; RCT, randomized clinical trial; CCS, non-randomized controlled clinical studies (quasi-randomized clinical trial or observational studies such as cohort or case-control studies); CS, case series; CR, case report.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gu LX, Shen JZ. Introduction of Chen style Tai Chi In: Chen Style Tai Chi. Beijing: People’s Sports Publishing House of China; 2007. p.1.
    1. Tang H, Gu LX. The history and development of Tai Chi In: Study on Tai Chi. Beijing: People’s Sports Publishing House of China; 2012. pp.1–4.
    1. Sjosten N, Vaapio S, Kivela SL. The effects of fall prevention trials on depressive symptoms and fear of falling among the aged: A systematic review. Aging Ment Health. 2008; 12: 30–46. 10.1080/13607860701366079 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Maciaszek J, Osinski W. The effects of Tai Chi on body balance in elderly people—a review of studies form the early 21st century. Am J Chin Med. 2010; 38: 219–229. - PubMed
    1. Liu B, Liu ZH, Zhu HE, Mo JC, Cheng DH. Effects of Tai Chi on lower-limb myodynamia in the elderly people: a meta-analysis. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2011; 31: 141–146. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Program of Innovative Research Team of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (2011-CXTD-09). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

LinkOut - more resources