Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28167744›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2017

Systematic review and meta-analysis: Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults.

Zhi-Guan Huang, Yun-Hui Feng, Yu-He Li, Chang-Sheng Lv

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04078529 (Efficacy of a Tailored Exercise Programme and Home Evaluation for Falls Prevention in Older People With a Visual Impairment), which is not on this map. Cited by 82 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
82citing papers in PubMed, 16 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT04078529 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Efficacy of a Tailored Exercise Programme and Home Evaluation for Falls Prevention in Older People With a Visual Impairment

TypeinterventionalSponsorBlind Veterans UKRan2020 to 2021Enrolled32ConditionsAccidental Fall, Visual Impairment, FallArms5 day falls prevention training, Home exercise programme, Environmental Assessment
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

82 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Guideline
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  19. Inflammatory Markers of Geriatric Depression Response to Tai Chi or Health Education Adjunct Interventions.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2023
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22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

4 authors.

Zhi-Guan HuangEngineering Research Center for Sports Assistive Devices Design, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Yun-Hui FengDepartment of Physical Education, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Yu-He LiEngineering Research Center for Sports Assistive Devices Design, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Chang-Sheng LvEngineering Research Center for Sports Assistive Devices Design, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveIt remains unclear whether Tai Chi is effective for preventing falls in older adults. We undertook this systematic review to evaluate the preventive effect of Tai Chi by updating the latest trial evidence.

designSystematic review and meta-analysis.

methodsThe Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched up to February 2016 to identify randomised trials evaluating Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults. We evaluated the risk of bias of included trials using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Results were combined using random effects meta-analysis. OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of fallers and rate of falls.

results18 trials with 3824 participants were included. The Tai Chi group was associated with significantly lower chance of falling at least once (risk ratio (RR) 0.80, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.88) and rate of falls (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.69, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.80) than the control group. Subgroup analyses suggested that the preventive effect was likely to increase with exercise frequency (number of fallers: p=0.001; rate of falls: p=0.007) and Yang style Tai Chi was likely to be more effective than Sun style Tai Chi (number of fallers: p=0.01; rate of falls: p=0.001). The results might be influenced by publication bias as the funnel plots showed asymmetry. Sensitivity analyses by sample size, risk of bias and comorbidity showed no major influence on the primary results.

conclusionsTai Chi is effective for preventing falls in older adults. The preventive effect is likely to increase with exercise frequency and Yang style Tai Chi seems to be more effective than Sun style Tai Chi.

Indexed as

Tai JiAccidental FallsAccidents, HomeAgedExerciseHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicFallsMeta-analysisOlder adultsSystematic reviewTai Chi

Identifiers

PMID28167744
PMCPMC5293999

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.