Tai Chi for Parkinson's Disease
Recently, several studies assessed the effectiveness of Tai
Chi for Parkinson's disease (PD), but the role of Tai Chi in the management of
PD remained controversial. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is
to evaluate the evidence on the efficacy of Tai Chi for PD. Six English and
Chinese electronic databases, up to April 2014, were searched to identify
relevant studies. The risk of bias in eligible studies was assessed by Cochrane
Collaboration's tools. The primary outcomes were motor function, balance and
gait in individuals with PD. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95%
confidence intervals (CI) of random-effect model were calculated. And heterogeneity
was assessed based on the I2statistic. 7 randomized controlled trials and 1
non-randomized controlled trial were eligible. The aggregated results suggested
that Tai Chi showed beneficial effects in improving motor function (SMD, -0.57;
95% CI -1.11 to -0.04; p = 0.03), balance (SMD, 1.22; 95% CI 0.80 to 1.65;
p<0.00001) and functional mobility (SMD, 1.06; 95% CI 0.68 to 1.44;
p<0.00001) in patients with PD, but not in improving gait velocity (SMD,
-0.02; 95% CI -0.58 to 0.54; p = 0.94), step length (SMD, -0.00; 95% CI -0.57
to 0.56; p = 0.99), or gait endurance (SMD, 0.53; 95% CI -0.07 to 1.12;
p = 0.08). Comparing with other active therapies, however, Tai Chi only showed
better effects in improving balance (SMD, 0.74; 95% CI 0.38 to 1.10; p<0.0001).
Tai Chi should be a valid complementary and alternative therapy for PD,
especially in improving motor function and balance. However, more studies with
long follow-up are warrant to confirm the current finding of Tai Chi for PD.
No comments:
Post a Comment