Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27216996›Full record

SynthesisOsteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA2016

Effects of tai chi exercise on bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Z Sun, H Chen, M R Berger, L Zhang, H Guo, Y Huang

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Efficacy and safety of tai chi exercise on bone health: An umbrella review.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2023
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
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  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Review
  12. The impact of Tai Chi on osteoporosis and osteopenia in middle-aged and elderly adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Exercise benefits yourself and your offspring: a mini-review.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025
    Review
  16. Exercise and Musculoskeletal Health in Men With Low Bone Mineral Density: A Systematic Review.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2024
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. The global approach to rehabilitation following an osteoporotic fragility fracture: A review of the rehabilitation working group of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) committee of scientific advisors.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2022
    Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Z SunThe Second Clinical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138, Xianlin Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
H ChenThe Second Clinical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138, Xianlin Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
M R BergerThe Second Clinical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138, Xianlin Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
L ZhangLuoyang No.1 Hospital of TCM, Luoyang, Henan Province, China.
H GuoThe Second Clinical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138, Xianlin Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China. ghying63@126.com.
Y HuangThe Second Clinical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138, Xianlin Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine · CNLuoyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tai chi exercise may have positive effects on bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. This systematic review is the first to summarize evidence to clarify the efficacy of tai chi exercise in bone health. The benefits of tai chi exercise on bone health remain unclear; further studies are needed. Emerging randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the efficacy of tai chi exercise on bone health among older women, but yielded inconclusive results. Our objective is to conduct a systematic review to evaluate evidence from RCTs to clarify the efficacy of tai chi exercise on bone mineral density (BMD), and bone turnover markers (BTM) in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Six electronic databases were searched, and reference lists of systematic reviews and identified studies from the search strategy were also screened. We included all RCTs that investigate tai chi exercise for bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Data selection, extraction, and evaluation of risk of bias were performed independently by two reviewers. Ten trials detailed in 11 articles were included. Six of the 11 studies reported positive outcomes on bone health. Results of our meta-analysis showed a significant effect of tai chi exercise on BMD change at the spine compared with no treatment in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. When tai chi exercise combined with a calcium supplement was compared with the calcium supplement alone, the result of BMD change at the spine showed no significant effect. Because the measurable effect observed was minimal, and due to the low quality of methodology of the studies, we conclude that the result is of limited reliability. Tai chi exercise may have benefits on bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, but the evidence is sometimes weak, poor, and inconsistent. Consequently, only limited conclusions can be drawn regarding the efficacy of tai chi exercise on bone health. Further well designed studies with low risk of bias are needed.

Indexed as

Bone DensityTai JiFemaleHumansOsteoporosis, PostmenopausalPerimenopausePostmenopauseRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicReproducibility of ResultsBoneBone mineral densityBone turnover markersOsteoporosisPerimenopausalPostmenopausal womenTai chi exercise

Identifiers

PMID27216996
OpenAlexW2397596652

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.