title: Tai Chi for Chronic Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
abstract: Several studies reported that Tai Chi showed potential effects for chronic pain, but its role remains controversial. This review assessed the evidence regarding the effects of Tai Chi for chronic pain conditions. 18 randomized controlled trials were included in our review. The aggregated results have indicated that Tai Chi showed positive evidence on immediate relief of chronic pain from osteoarthritis (standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.54; 95% confidence intervals [CI], -0.77 to -0.30; P < 0.05). The valid duration of Tai Chi practice for osteoarthritis may be more than 5 weeks. And there were some beneficial evidences regarding the effects of Tai Chi on immediate relief of chronic pain from low back pain (SMD, -0.81; 95% CI, -1.11 to -0.52; P < 0.05) and osteoporosis (SMD, -0.83; 95% CI, -1.37 to -0.28; P = 0.003). Therefore, clinicians may consider Tai Chi as a viable complementary and alternative medicine for chronic pain conditions.
authors.affiliation: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ling Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Romy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lauche
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klose
authors.affiliation: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jiang Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.affiliation: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Cun
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chao Qing
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Gustav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dobos
authors.affiliation: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ying Wu
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000628:therapy; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000150:complications; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D026302:Tai Ji; D016896:Treatment Outcome