Effect of Taichi Chuan on Health-related Physical Fitness in Adults: A Systematic Review with meta-analysis
Author: Fengmeng Qi1, Kim Geok Soh2, Nasnoor Juzaily Mohd Nasiruddin3, Ong Swee Leong4, Sun He5, Huange Liu6
Affiliation:
1 Department of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia; Department of Wushu, Faculty of sports, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo city of China. Electronic address: 583135958@qq.com.
2 Department of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia. Electronic address: kims@upm.edu.my.
3 Department of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia. Electronic address: juzaily@upm.edu.my.
4 Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, Malaysia. Electronic address: ongsl@unisza.edu.my.
5 School of Physical Education Institute (Main Campus), Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. Electronic address: verson.upm@gmail.com.
6 Department of Sports Studies, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia. Electronic address: liuhuange568@gmail.com.
Conference/Journal: Complement Ther Med
Date published: 2023 Aug 14
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2023.102971. , Word Count: 327
Purpose:
Taichi Chuan was previously shown to benefit physical health, but the results were inconsistent. The main reason is that the mechanism is not clear and may be interpreted differently. In this systematic review, we analyzed the data obtained from various randomized controlled trials to identify the effectiveness of Taichi Chuan and the mechanism by which it improves the physical health of adults.
Methods:
We systematically searched various databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, EBSCO Host, Science Direct, CNKI, Wan-Fang, and VPCS, and obtained 1,448 articles for review. The articles were selected following the PICO eligibility criteria. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to interpret the results of the different studies.
Results:
We included 16 studies in the systematic review. Six of them were of very high quality, ten were of acceptable quality. Overall, the results showed that Taichi Chuan is beneficial to physical fitness, but not all indices supported this statement. Specifically, the effects were significant on Balance (ES = -0.33; P=0.02), BMI (ES = -0.83; P < 0.00001), body fat (ES = -0.45; P < 0.00001), and vital capacity (ES = 23.39; P = 0.01). However, there were no significant effects on systolic blood pressure (ES = 0.07; P = 0.94) and diastolic blood pressure (ES = 0.03; P = 0.97).
Conclusion:
We found sufficient high-quality evidence to suggest that Taichi Chuan affects balance, BMI, body fat, vital capacity, and flexibility (sit-reach) in adults. The mechanism can be explained by low posture (balance) and moderate intensity of Taichi Chuan. However, no study has explained how to maintain concentration while keeping a dynamic low posture, which made it difficult to validate the finding that Taichi Chuan can reduce sympathetic tension under stress. In this study, we assumed that relaxation methods, which work on the central nervous system that links the body and the mind, might be the key explanation. However, further studies based on scientific, replicable methods need to be performed to confirm our findings.
Keywords: BMI; Taichi Chuan; adult; balance; flexibility; physical fitness; vital capacity, Tai Chi
PMID: 37586435 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2023.102971
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