Tai Chi as an intervention to reduce falls and improve balance function in the elderly: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the effectiveness of fall prevention and balance function in the elderly.MethodsDatabases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and CNKI were electronically searched, and the relevant references of the included papers were also manually searched. Two reviewers independently screened the articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, and assessed the methodological quality. A meta-analysis was performed using the Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5.1 software.ResultsSix randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 2796 participants were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that compared with a physiotherapy intervention, Tai Chi could significantly reduce the incidence rates of falls [relative risk (RR) = 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.73, 0.92)], while there were significant differences in the Timed Up and Go test, Functional Reach Test and Berger Balance Scale.ConclusionsTai Chi is effective in reducing the risk of falls and improving balance in the elderly.