Author: Wu Y1, Johnson BT2, Chen S3, Chen Y4, Livingston J5, Pescatello LS6
Affiliation:
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. Electronic address: yin.2.wu@uconn.edu.
2Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
3Department of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
4School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200438, China.
5Homer Babbidge Library, Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
6Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Conference/Journal: J Sport Health Sci.
Date published: 2020 Apr 30
Other:
Pages: S2095-2546(20)30038-7 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2020.03.007. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 279
BACKGROUND: Professional health organizations are not currently recommending Tai Ji Quana longside aerobic exercise to treat hypertension. We aimed to examine the efficacy of Tai Ji Quan as antihypertensive lifestyle therapy.
METHODS: Tai Ji Quan interventions published in English and Chinese were included when they involved healthy adults, reported pre-and post-intervention blood pressure (BP), and had a non-exercise/non-diet control group. We systematically searched 11 electronic databases for studies published through July 31, 2018, yielding 31 qualifying controlled trials. We1) evaluated the risk of bias and methodological study quality, 2) performed meta-regression analyses following random-effects assumptions, and 3) generated additive models representing the largest possible clinically relevant BP reductions.
RESULTS: Participants (N = 3223) were middle-aged (56.6 ± 15.1 years of age) adults with prehypertension (systolic BP (SBP) =136.9 ± 15.2 mmHg, diastolic BP (DBP) = 83.4 ± 8.7mmHg). Tai Ji Quan was practiced 4.0 ± 1.4 sessions/week for 54.0 ± 10.6 min/session for 22.3 ± 20.2 weeks. Overall, Tai Ji Quan elicited significant reductions in SBP (d+ = -0.75; -11.3 mmHg, 95%CI: -14.6 to -8.0) and DBP (d+ = -0.53; -4.8 mmHg, 95%CI: -6.4 to -3.1) versus control (p < 0.001). Controlling for publication bias among samples with hypertension, Tai Ji Quan trials published in English elicited SBP reductions of 10.4 mmHg and DBP reductions of 4.0 mmHg, which was half the magnitude of trials published in Chinese (SBP reductions of 18.6 mmHg and DBP reductions of 8.8 mmHg).
CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that Tai Ji Quan is a viable antihypertensive lifestyle therapy that produces clinically meaningful BP reductions (i.e., 10.4mmHg and 4.0 mmHg of SBP and DBP reductions, respectively) among individuals with hypertension. Such magnitude of BP reductions can lower the incidence of cardiovascular disease by up to 40%.
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KEYWORDS: Blood pressure; Complementary medicine; Exercise training; Hypertension
PMID: 32360952 DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2020.03.007
