Tai Chi for Overweight/Obese Adolescents and Young Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Abstract

Background. Exercise is one of the recommended interventions for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and current evidence has shown that Tai chi may have favorable effects. The objective of this randomized controlled pilot trial was to study the feasibility and potential effects of Tai chi for overweight/obese adolescents and young women with PCOS, so a future definitive randomized controlled trial (RCT) can be well designed and implemented. Materials and Methods. This study recruited 50 patients who were randomly assigned to two groups (Tai chi and self-monitored exercise) at a ratio of 3 : 2. The intervention lasted for 3 months, and the feasibility and effectiveness outcomes were measured. Results. A total of 42 patients completed the study, including 24 in the Tai chi group and 18 in the control group. Compared with the self-monitored exercise group, there was a significantly decreased body mass index (BMI) in the Tai chi group adjusted for baseline BMI. The testosterone level and lipid profile were also decreased compared to controls; the same tendency was also observed for the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), but the difference did not achieve statistical significance. Twenty-four (out of 30, 80%) patients in the Tai chi group and 18 (out of 20, 90%) patients in the self-monitored exercise group completed the data collection. A total of 36 exercise sessions were held in both groups. Patients in the Tai chi group took a mean of 34.0 ± 2.21 classes (93.06%), and those in the self-monitored exercise group engaged in 32 ± 3.06 exercise sessions (88.27%) out of the 36 required exercise sessions. Conclusions. The present pilot study was feasible to deliver; there was a decrease in BMI, testosterone level, and lipid profile for PCOS patients in the Tai chi group at 3 months. In a future definitive trial, lower recruitment rate and outcome measurements lead to poor patient acceptance such as the 5-time point oral glucose tolerance test need to be considered and one fixed type of aerobic exercise and supervision from the investigator for the control group are also needed. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02608554.

Efficacy of traditional Chinese exercises in improving anthropometric and biochemical indicators in overweight and obese subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Table 1 lists the characteristics of each of the included studies, which were published between 2009 and 2022. Five studies were conducted in China [ 29 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 ] ; 2 in USA [ 31 , 35 ] ; 1 in France [ 33 ] ; 1 in Australia. [ 28 ] The TCE program was used to treat overweight or obese participants in all experimental groups.…”

“…4), the pooled data demonstrated that TCE resulted produced large and significant improvements in LDL ( g = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.80–2.37, P = .000, I 2 = 98%) when compared to the control group. Pooled analyses from 7 parallel trials [28–32,34,36] revealed that the TG exerted a moderate and significant increase in effect size ( g = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.56–0.81, P = .000, I 2 = 96%) compared with the control group. Moreover, the pooled data demonstrated that TCE resulted produced small and significant improvements in TC ( g = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.19–0.54, P = .000, I 2 = 77%) and HDL ( g = −0.71, 95% CI = −0.86 to 0.57, P = .000, I 2 = 99%) when compared to the control group.…”

“…All studies used random sequence generation. In the term of allocation concealment, 8 studies [28–34,36] had a low risk of attrition bias and 1 study had a high risk of attrition bias. In the term of blinding of outcome assessors, 6 studies [28,30,32–34,36] had a low risk of attrition bias and 3 studies [29,31,35] had a unclear risk of attrition bias.…”

“…Finally, 9 original research articles were selected for further analysis. [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]…”

“…In the term of allocation concealment, 8 studies [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]36] had a low risk of attrition bias and 1 study had a high risk of attrition bias. In the term of blinding of outcome assessors, 6 studies [28,30,[32][33][34]36] had a low risk of attrition bias and 3 studies [29,31,35] had a unclear risk of attrition bias. Moreover, all studies had a high risk of attrition bias on blinding of therapist and participants.…”