Evidence for the efficacy of Tai Chi for treating rheumatoid arthritis: an overview of systematic reviews

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease with higher prevalence among women aged between 30 and 50 years and general prevalence of 1% worldwide. Interventions promoting improvement of quality of life for individuals with RA are required. Tai Chi appears to be a low-cost alternative, with studies showing positive results from this technique. However, regarding aspects of RA such as pain and sensitivity, studies remain inconclusive. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of the Tai Chi method for treating patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, among systematic reviews. DESIGN AND SETTING: Overview of systematic reviews with Cochrane and non-Cochrane methodology. METHODS: Systematic reviews involving quasi-randomized and randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on use of Tai Chi, with no restrictions regarding the date and language of publication, were included. RESULTS: Three systematic reviews were included. The effects of Tai Chi associated with education and stretching exercises versus education and stretching were evaluated in these reviews. They showed that improvements in the variables of mood, depression and functional index were associated with use of Tai Chi. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that clinical improvement was achieved, although not statistically significant with regard to pain and disease pattern, as assessed using the ACR20 measurement. Improvements relating to disability and quality of life were also seen. There was a low level of evidence and therefore caution in data analysis is recommended. The three studies included showed poor reliability for providing an accurate and complete summary of use of Tai Chi among people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. PROSPERO: CRD42019125501.

Determining the safety and effectiveness of Tai Chi: A critical overview of 210 systematic reviews of controlled clinical trials

“…Due to the large number of SRs, most of which were screened using a partially blinded process to help reduce the risk of selective reporting bias, it is possible that some populations and outcomes were also missed. However, we are con dent that we have reported the important outcomes also highlighted in other SRs of SRs [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…Given the large number of SRs of Tai Chi, SRs of SRs (henceforth referred to as overviews) are increasingly being conducted [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Some have evaluated multiple interventions for a single condition [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], whilst others have focused only on Tai Chi interventions for either a single condition [7][8][9][10][11][12] or multiple conditions [13][14][15][16][17]. Limitations of the overviews evaluating only Tai Chi interventions [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]...…”

“…Some have evaluated multiple interventions for a single condition [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], whilst others have focused only on Tai Chi interventions for either a single condition [7][8][9][10][11][12] or multiple conditions [13][14][15][16][17]. Limitations of the overviews evaluating only Tai Chi interventions [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], were the potential for language bias [10][11][12][13][15][16][17], reporting bias in which the most favorable results were emphasised [16,17], and reporting multiple estimates of effects/results for the same or similar outcome and population, with limited or no discussion about con icting results or overlapping of the primary studies, nor for a meta-analysis that did not meet the criteria outlined in item 11 of AMSTAR 2. Following calibration exercises, ve reviewers (GYY, WLH, FLB, HZ, JH) extracted data into Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) [34] that was veri ed by two senior reviewers (GYY, JH).…”

Tai Chi, Qigong and the Treatment of Arthritis

“…A more recent study by Imoto et al [321] concluded that tai chi could be a low-cost alternative to other treatments of RA. Their study consisted of a review of three other studies.…”

Scientometric analysis of researches on Tai Chi and health promotion based on literatures from 1991 to 2021

“…Over the past 30 years, a multitude articles have reported the potential benefits of tai chi for health in different populations (1). Numerous meta-analyses and systematic reviews have been performed to explore the efficacy of tai chi practices on falls prevention (4)(5)(6), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) (7,8), chronic musculoskeletal pain (9,10), rheumatoid arthritis (11,12), psychological well-being (13,14), and cognitive function (15)(16)(17).…”