Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on depression in older adults: A randomized controlled trial

Effects of Mind–Body Interventions Involving Meditative Movements on Quality of Life, Depressive Symptoms, Fear of Falling and Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

“…In total, 3224 participants aged 59 years and above (72.2 ± 7.3) were involved in the included 37 randomized controlled trials [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 ] ( Table S1 ). The mean sample size was 93 ± 56.7 subjects ranging from 17 [ 74 ] to 269 [ 60 ].…”

“…Community-dwelling older adults were investigated by most studies (32 out of 37), whereas one study included both community-dwelling older adults and inhabitants of retirement centers [ 70 ]. The other ones consisted of residents of elderly homes [ 51 , 80 ], long-term care facilities [ 53 , 54 ] or a retirement center [ 69 ]. Seven studies analyzed individuals with chronic physical conditions, namely the following: older women with senile osteoporosis [ 57 ], older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [ 68 ], postmenopausal women with osteopenia [ 78 ], older adults with hip or knee osteoarthritis [ 47 ], older adults with hyperkyphosis (noticed after age 50) [ 49 ], older adults with knee osteoarthritis [ 55 ] and older adults with chronic low back pain [ 70 ].…”

“…All appropriate studies involved either Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga or Pilates. The most frequent mind–body intervention was Tai Chi [ 47 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 69 , 75 , 78 , 80 ]. Mainly, the Tai Chi Yang style (24 forms or 10 simplified forms) was applied.…”

“…The attendance rates for the experimental groups, where indicated, varied from 61% [ 47 ] to 96% [ 65 ]. The following non-exercise control groups were used by the included trials: no treatment/normal lifestyle/activities of daily living [ 48 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 57 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 69 , 72 , 75 , 76 , 78 , 79 , 80 ], wait-list [ 47 , 58 , 67 , 70 , 71 , 77 , 81 ], usual/standard care [ 53 , 54 , 60 , 68 ], health education [ 50 , 56 , 59 , 61 ], series of guidelines [ 45 , 46 ], monthly lunch/seminars [ 49 ], telephone calls [ 65 ], newspaper reading group [ 73 ], socialization group [ 74 ]. More detailed information is shown in Table S1 .…”

“…The mean of the study quality (PEDro score) was 6.5 (median of 6.0; SD = 1.1) with a range between five and eight ( Table S3 ). Only 9 out of 37 studies had a PEDro score of five [ 51 , 58 , 63 , 64 , 73 , 74 , 78 , 79 , 80 ]. None of the studies blinded the subjects or therapists, which is considered to be generally difficult within exercise intervention studies.…”