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The effect of Tai Chi exercise intervention on sleep quality in community residing older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

To provide evidence-based medical evidence for Tai Chi exercise in improving the sleep quality of the older adults living in the community.

AbstractSection Finding

Tai Chi exercise has been found to notably enhance the sleep quality of older adults residing in the community, in comparison to engaging in routine activities.

AbstractSection Message

Tai Chi exercise proves to be an excellent choice for older adults residing in the community in their later years, promoting their overall well-being and health.

Abstract

Purpose

While clinical research has shown that Tai Chi exercise may improve the sleep quality of older adults, there is a lack of robust evidence-based verification. Therefore, this study conducted a systematic review of published research on the effect of Tai Chi exercise on the sleep quality of community-dwelling older adults, aiming to provide solid evidence-based medicine to enhance their sleep quality.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, and SinoMed databases from their inception to December 9, 2022. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool 2.0 was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies.

Results

This systematic review included 12 original articles, involving a total of 1,058 community-dwelling older adults, with 553 in the Tai Chi group and 505 in the control group. The meta-analysis results revealed a significant improvement in the sleep quality of community-dwelling older adults who practiced Tai Chi compared to the control group [WMD =  − 1.96 (95% CI: − 3.02 to − 0.90, z = 3.62, P < 0.001)]. Subgroup analysis showed that Tai Chi had significantly beneficial effects regardless of age, country/region, intervention time, and Tai Chi type.

Conclusions

Tai Chi exercise can serve as an effective non-medication approach for addressing sleep problems in this demographic. Among the various types of Tai Chi exercises, the 24-form Tai Chi exercise emerges as a preferred option. Moreover, Tai Chi exercise proves to be an excellent choice for older people in their later years, promoting their overall well-being and health.

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Data availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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  1. College of Nursing, Chungnam National University, 266 Munhwa-ro, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

    Linyu Lyu, Yuelin Li, Xing Fan, Jisu Seo & Oh Eunna

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Contributions

Conception and design: LL, Administrative support: LL, Provision of study materials or patients: LL and YL, Collection and assembly of data: LL, YL, JS, Data analysis and interpretation: LL, XF, OE, Manuscript writing: LL, YL, XF, JS, OE, Final approval of manuscript: LL.

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Correspondence to Linyu Lyu.

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Lyu, L., Li, Y., Fan, X. et al. The effect of Tai Chi exercise intervention on sleep quality in community residing older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Geriatr Med 15, 381–396 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-023-00923-6

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