ArticleJournal of physiotherapy2013
Tai Chi training is effective in reducing balance impairments and falls in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Article in Journal of physiotherapy, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychological Benefits of Nonpharmacological Methods Aimed for Improving Balance in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review.Behavioural neurology · 2015Pooled it
- Effectiveness of robotic balance training on postural instability in patients with mild Parkinson's disease: A pilot, single blind, randomized controlled trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2021Trial
- Associations of exercise frequency and type with trajectories of daily activity limitations among older adults in the UK.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- The role of exercise intensity in motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease: mechanisms, clinical evidence, and personalized exercise prescription parameters.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Effects of Baduanjin Exercise on Rehabilitation of Patients With Mild to Moderate Parkinson's Disease.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
- Table tennis for patients with Parkinson's disease: A single-center, prospective pilot study.Clinical parkinsonism & related disorders · 2021Article
- A Mobile Phone App-Based Tai Chi Training in Parkinson's Disease: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Article
- Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Reducing Falls and Improving Balance Performance in Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-Analysis.Parkinson's disease · 2019Review
- Therapies for Parkinson's diseases: alternatives to current pharmacological interventions.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2016Review
- Current Pharmaceutical Treatments and Alternative Therapies of Parkinson's Disease.Current neuropharmacology · 2016Review
- Association between Community Ambulation Walking Patterns and Cognitive Function in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: Further Insights into Motor-Cognitive Links.Parkinson's disease · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
questionDoes Tai Chi improve postural control in patients with Parkinson's disease?
designRandomised, controlled trial and blinded outcome assessment.
settingUniversity clinic in USA.
participantsIndividuals with Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stage 1-4) between the age of 40 and 85 years, and ability to walk with or without an assistive device were key inclusion criteria. Mini-Mental State examination score <24 and concurrent participation in other instructor-led exercise programs were key exclusion criteria. Randomisation of 195 participants allocated 65 to each of the Tai Chi, resistance, and stretching groups.
interventionsThe Tai Chi group underwent a Tai Chi program, the resistance group 8 to 10 leg muscle strengthening exercises, while the stretching group performed stretching exercises involving the upper body and lower extremities. All three groups trained for 24 weeks (60 minutes per session, two sessions per week). OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were two indicators of postural stability - maximum excursion and directional control derived from dynamic posturography. The secondary outcomes were stride length, gait velocity, knee flexion and extension peak torque, functional reach, timed-up-and-go test, and motor section of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III). The outcomes were measured at baseline, at 12 and 24 weeks, and 3 months after termination of the intervention.
results185 participants completed the study. At the end of the 24-week training period, the change in maximum excursion in the Tai Chi group was significantly more than that in the resistance group (by 5%, 95% CI 1.1 to 10.0) and the stretching group (by 12%, 95% CI 7.2 to 16.7). Direction control improved significantly more in the Tai Chi group compared with the resistance group (by 11%, 95% CI 3.9 to 17.0) and the control group (by 11%, 95% CI 5.5 to 17.3). The Tai Chi group also had significantly more improvement in stride length and functional reach than the other two groups. The change in knee flexion and extension peak torque, timed-up-and-go test, and UPDRS III score in the Tai Chi group was only significantly more than that in the stretching group, but not the resistance group. The falls incidence was also lower in the Tai Chi group than the stretching group during the 6-month training period (incidence-rate ratio: 0.33, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.71).
conclusionTai Chi training is effective in reducing balance impairments in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.