ReviewFrontiers in sports and active living2026
Does exercise environment moderate the effects of Tai Chi on depression and anxiety? A systematic review and meta-analysis of indoor vs. outdoor practice settings.
Review in Frontiers in sports and active living, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Depression and anxiety are highly prevalent mental disorders that impose a substantial global health burden. As a traditional mind-body exercise, Tai Chi has demonstrated well-established non-pharmacological benefits for alleviating negative emotional symptoms. However, previous meta-analyses have primarily focused on intervention dosage (e.g., frequency and duration) or participant characteristics, while largely overlooking the potential influence of the physical exercise environment as a contextual ecological factor. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the overall effects of Tai Chi on depression and anxiety and to determine whether indoor and outdoor practice settings moderate these mental health benefits. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was performed in CNKI, Web of Science, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Embase for studies published from database inception to June 2026. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating Tai Chi as the primary intervention and reporting outcomes related to depression and/or anxiety were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias using the RoB 2.0 tool. The certainty of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Results: A total of 15 RCTs involving 847 participants were included. Tai Chi significantly reduced both depressive symptoms (SMD = -0.93, 95% CI: -1.25 to -0.61, Conclusions: Tai Chi is an effective non-pharmacological intervention for alleviating depression and anxiety. However, current empirical evidence does not support an independent moderating effect of the exercise environment. The observed numerical differences between indoor and outdoor settings should be interpreted cautiously as preliminary and hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory. Well-designed RCTs directly comparing standardized indoor vs. outdoor practice environments are warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.