Baduanjin exercise: A potential promising therapy toward osteoporosis

Author: Chuanrui Sun1, Baoyu Qi1, Xinyi Huang2, Ming Chen1, Zikai Jin1, Yili Zhang3, Liguo Zhu1, Xu Wei1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. <sup>2</sup> School of Tradition Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China. <sup>3</sup> School of Traditional Chinese Medicine and School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Conference/Journal: Front Med (Lausanne)
Date published: 2022 Aug 3
Other: Volume ID: 9 , Pages: 935961 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.935961. , Word Count: 332


Purpose:
Baduanjin (BDJ) exercise is a traditional exercise that combines breathing, body movement, meditation and awareness to help delay the onset and progression of senile degenerative musculoskeletal diseases, such as osteoporosis (OP). The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the efficacy of BDJ exercise, and preliminarily infer its effective mechanism in the treatment of OP.

Methods:
We identified relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) through eight databases, and compared BDJ exercise with the control groups (including blank control and conventional treatment intervention). The main outcome measure was bone mineral density (BMD), the additional outcome measures were visual analogue scale (VAS), Berg balance scale (BBS), serum Calcium (Ca), serum Phosphorus (P), serum Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and serum bone gla protein (BGP). Meta-analysis and trial sequence analysis (TSA) were performed using RevMan 5.4, Stata 16.0, and TSA 0.9.

Results:
In total, 13 RCTs involving 919 patients were included in the analysis. For postmenopausal osteoporosis, BDJ exercise alone and BDJ exercise combined with conventional treatment can improve the BMD of lumbar spine. BDJ exercise alone can influence serum Ca and ALP. BDJ exercise combined with conventional treatment can improve balance (BBS) and influence serum BGP. For senile osteoporosis, BDJ exercise alone and BDJ exercise combined with conventional treatment can improve balance (BBS). BDJ exercise combined with conventional treatment can improve the BMD of hip and pain relieve (VAS). For primary osteoporosis, BDJ exercise combined with conventional treatment can improve the BMD of lumbar spine and femoral neck.

Conclusion:
Baduanjin exercise may be beneficial to improve BMD, relieve pain, improve balance ability, influence serum BGP and serum ALP in patients with OP, but differences occur due to various types of OP. Due to the low quality of research on the efficacy and mechanism of BDJ exercise in the treatment of OP, high-quality evidence-based research is still needed to provide reliable supporting evidence.

Systematic review registration:
[http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO], identifier [CRD42022329022].

Keywords: Baduanjin exercise; Chinese qigong; evidence-based medicine; meta-analysis; osteoporosis; trial sequential analysis.

PMID: 35991646 PMCID: PMC9381703 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.935961