School of Sport Medicine and Physical Therapy, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
Sports Coaching College, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
Front Public Health. 2023 Dec 18;11:1281144. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1281144. eCollection 2023.
Taichi is beneficial for functional mobility and balance in older adults. However, such benefits of Taichi when comparing to conventional exercise (CE) are not well understood due to large variance in study protocols and observations.
We reviewed publications in five databases. Eligible studies that examined the effects of Taichi on the outcomes of functional mobility and balance in healthy older adults as compared to CE were included. Subgroup analyses compared the effects of different types of CE (e.g., single and multiple-type exercise) and different intervention designs (e.g., Taichi types) on those outcomes (Registration number: CRD42022331956).
Twelve studies consisting of 2,901 participants were included. Generally, compared to CE, Taichi induced greater improvements in the performance of Timed-Up-and-Go (SMD = -0.18, [-0.33 to -0.03], = 0.040, I = 59.57%), 50-foot walking (MD = -1.84 s, [-2.62 to -1.07], < 0.001, I = 0%), one-leg stance with eyes open (MD = 6.00s, [2.97 to 9.02], < 0.001, I = 83.19%), one-leg stance with eyes closed (MD = 1.65 s, [1.35 to 1.96], < 0.001, I = 36.2%), and functional reach (SMD = 0.7, [0.32 to 1.08], < 0.001, I = 86.79%) tests. Subgroup analyses revealed that Taichi with relatively short duration (<20 weeks), low total time (≤24 h), and/or using Yang-style, can induce significantly greater benefits for functional mobility and balance as compared to CE. Uniquely, Taichi only induced significantly greater improvements in Timed-Up-and-Go compared to single- (SMD = -0.40, [-0.55 to -0.24], < 0.001, I = 6.14%), but not multiple-type exercise. A significant difference between the effects of Taichi was observed on the performance of one-leg stance with eyes open when compared to CE without balance (MD = 3.63 s, [1.02 to 6.24], = 0.006, I = 74.93%) and CE with balance (MD = 13.90s, [10.32 to 17.48], < 0.001, I = 6.1%). No other significant difference was shown between the influences of different CE types on the observations.
Taichi can induce greater improvement in functional mobility and balance in older adults compared to CE in a more efficient fashion, especially compared to single-type CE. Future studies with more rigorous design are needed to confirm the observations here.
太极拳对老年人的功能性移动和平衡能力有益。然而，由于研究方案和观察结果存在较大差异，太极拳与传统运动（CE）相比的益处尚不清楚。
我们在五个数据库中检索了文献。纳入的研究比较了太极拳对健康老年人功能性移动和平衡能力的影响与 CE 的影响。亚组分析比较了不同类型的 CE（如单一和多种类型的运动）和不同干预设计（如太极拳类型）对这些结果的影响（注册号：CRD42022331956）。
共有 12 项研究纳入 2901 名参与者。通常情况下，与 CE 相比，太极拳在计时起立行走（SMD = -0.18，[-0.33 至 -0.03]，= 0.040，I = 59.57%）、50 英尺行走（MD = -1.84 s，[-2.62 至 -1.07]，<0.001，I = 0%）、单腿睁眼站立（MD = 6.00 s，[2.97 至 9.02]，<0.001，I = 83.19%）、单腿闭眼站立（MD = 1.65 s，[1.35 至 1.96]，<0.001，I = 36.2%）和功能性伸展（SMD = 0.7，[0.32 至 1.08]，<0.001，I = 86.79%）测试中的表现均有显著改善。亚组分析显示，与 CE 相比，持续时间较短（<20 周）、总时间较短（≤24 小时）且/或使用杨式太极拳的太极拳，能对功能性移动和平衡产生更显著的益处。特别的是，与单一类型的运动（SMD = -0.40，[-0.55 至 -0.24]，<0.001，I = 6.14%）相比，太极拳仅在计时起立行走方面表现出显著更大的改善，而与多种类型的运动（MD = -0.40，[-0.55 至 -0.24]，<0.001，I = 6.14%）相比无显著差异。与 CE 相比，太极拳在睁眼单腿站立方面的效果存在显著差异（MD = 3.63 s，[1.02 至 6.24]，= 0.006，I = 74.93%）和 CE 与平衡（MD = 13.90 s，[10.32 至 17.48]，<0.001，I = 6.1%），但与无平衡的 CE 相比无显著差异。不同类型的 CE 对观察结果的影响之间没有显示出其他显著差异。
与 CE 相比，太极拳可以更有效地提高老年人的功能性移动和平衡能力，特别是与单一类型的 CE 相比。需要进行更多严格设计的未来研究来证实这里的观察结果。
