Effects of baduanjin exercise on blood glucose, depression and anxiety among patients with type II diabetes and emotional disorders: A meta-analysis

Author: Xiwen Luo1, Mengxian Zhao2, Yulong Zhang3, Yanjie Zhang4
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> College of Physical Education, Faculty of Teacher Education, Taizhou University, China. <sup>2</sup> School of Physical Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. <sup>3</sup> Hunan Judicial Police Vocational College, Changsha, China. <sup>4</sup> Physical Education Unit, School of Humanities and Social Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China; The Shenzhen Humanities &amp; Social Sciences Key Research Bases of the Center for Mental Health. Electronic address: zhangyanjie@cuhk.edu.cn.
Conference/Journal: Complement Ther Clin Pract
Date published: 2022 Nov 8
Other: Volume ID: 50 , Pages: 101702 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101702. , Word Count: 270


Background:
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders reflected by high blood glucose levels and lack of hormone insulin. Notably, T2DM patients are three times more likely to report depression than the general population. Conventional exercise training programs have been shown to be beneficial for T2DM, but less is known regarding the effects of Baduanjin exercise on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and psychological measures among this unique group. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of Baduanjin exercise on HbA1c, depression, and anxiety among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with emotional disorders.

Methods:
The potential literature was searched from six electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Wanfang, and CNKI) from their inception to July 2022. The randomized controlled studies that investigated the effects of Baduanjin on HbA1c, depression , and anxiety in T2DM with emotional disorders were included. The effect sizes were calculated using the random-effect models with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was employed to assess the study quality.

Results:
Eleven studies involving 755 T2DM participants with emotional disorders were analyzed in this study. The pooled results showed that Baduanjin had significant improvements in HbA1c (SMD = 0.75, 95% CI 0.46 to 1.04, p < 0.001), depression (SMD = 0.69, 95% CI 0.30 to 1.08, p < 0.01) and anxiety (SMD = 0.98, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.53, p < 0.01) compared to the control group.

Conclusion:
Findings suggest that Baduanjin exercise may effectively alleviate HbA1c, depression, and anxiety among T2DM patients with emotional disorders. However, more well-designed studies are required to further substantiate the promising findings.

Keywords: Anxiety; Baduanjin; Blood glucose; Depression; Diabetes.

PMID: 36423358 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101702