AUTHOR=Hui Jiaqi , Wang Ya , Zhao Junnan , Cong Weihong , Xu Fengqin 

TITLE=Effects of Tai Chi on health status in adults with chronic heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.953657

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2022.953657

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is among the top causes of cardiovascular morbidity, and most CHF patients have poor health status. Tai Chi, a mind-body exercise that originated in China, is beneficial for health status. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Tai Chi on health status in adults with CHF.
Methods: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database were searched from the inception to Oct. 22, 2021. This meta-analysis was performed using the fixed- or random-effects model. Continuous outcomes were carried out by using mean difference (MD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Dichotomous outcomes were determined by using Risk Ratio (RR) with 95%CI. GRADEpro Guideline Development Tool (GDT) online software was used to present outcome-specific information regarding overall certainty of evidence from studies.
Results: Fifteen studies including 1236 participants were finally included. Compared with usual care alone, Tai Chi combined with usual care achieved efficacy in improving Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MD=-8.51; 95%CI: -10.32 to -6.70; p<0.00001), 6-minute walk test (MD=43.47; 95%CI: 33.38 to 54.10; p<0.00001), left ventricular ejection fraction (MD=6.07; 95%CI: 3.44 to 8.70; p<0.00001), B-type natriuretic peptide/N-terminal fragment of pro-BNP (SMD=-0.97; 95%CI: -1.75 to -0.20; p=0.01), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (MD=-2.89; 95%CI: -4.87 to -0.91; p=0.004), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (MD=-2.25; 95%CI: -3.88 to -0.61; p=0.007), timed up and go test (MD=-1.34; 95%CI: -2.50 to -0.19; p=0.02), and reduced the risk of heart failure hospitalization (RR=0.47; 95%CI: 0.25 to 0.88; p=0.02). However, there was no difference in the outcome of peak oxygen uptake (MD=1.38; 95%CI: -1.51 to 4.28; p=0.35). All-cause mortality or cardiovascular death and HAMA could not be evaluated due to insufficient data. The certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate due to the risk of bias, inconsistency, imprecision, and publication bias.
Conclusions: Tai Chi might be safe and showed beneficial effects on health status in patients with CHF. However, more high-quality and long-term studies are still needed to further evaluate the effects of Tai Chi.