Heterogeneity Factor Analysis of Studies Evaluating the Effect of Tai Chi on Improving the Overall Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Background: In the case of large heterogeneity, the data combination of randomized controlled trials will lead to the decrease of the reliability of systematic review and meta analysis, so we conducted the present study. Objectives: To explore sources of heterogeneity in studies on Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) as a complementary and alternative method for managing the overall quality of life of postoperative breast cancer patients. Methods: Randomized controlled trials were searched for in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library through August 2017. The Cochrane Handbook 5.2 standards and Stata software version 10.0 were adopted for evaluating the quality of the included studies and the data was analyzed on overall quality of life of TCC. A separate univariate meta-regression analysis was performed on the study duration, sample size, cancer staging, prior breast cancer treatment, different types of TCC intervention group, different types of control group, intervention duration, mean age, and ethnicity to detect important factors leading to heterogeneity. Results: Significant heterogeneity was present in the included studies that used TCC to improve the overall quality of life of postoperative breast cancer patients from the retrieved literature (P < 0.05). The univariate meta-regression analysis indicated that the source of heterogeneity was not apparent in the analyzed factors within or between studies. Conclusions: A normative approach in studies evaluating the use of TCC for improving the overall quality of life of postoperative breast cancer patients was not sufficiently explored in the existing randomized controlled trials (RCTs). An insufficient number of RCTs in this field may be the reason that the effect size had unclear clinical significance. The existing evidence provided limited judgment on sources of heterogeneity between studies evaluating the use of TCC for improving overall quality of life in postoperative breast cancer patients.

The Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Physiological and Psychosocial Well-Being During Adjuvant Chemotherapy Among Breast Cancer Patients

“…There is growing awareness that cancer fighters represent a population with several needs related to physical conditioning, cardiovascular disease risk, and psychological stress. TC exercise as an intervention may deliver benefits to cancer survivors in these several areas of need established on meditation and aerobic exercise (Pan et al, 2018).…”

Effects of Tai Chi Chuan training on the QoL and psychological well-being in female patients with breast cancer: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

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