Effects of Tai Chi Training on Improving Physical Function in Patients With Coronary Heart Diseases

Group- plus home-based Tai Chi program improves functional health among patients with coronary heart disease: a randomized controlled trial

AIMS

Tai Chi is a promising exercise option in cardiac rehabilitation to manage coronary heart disease (CHD). Increasing attention was paid on home-based cardiac rehabilitation to improve participation rate, but no study has yet emphasized the effect of home-based Tai Chi. A single-blinded randomized controlled trial is used to examine the effects of a group- plus home-based Tai Chi program on functional health.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Ninety-eight community-dwelling patients with CHD were randomly assigned to the Tai Chi and control groups. Participants in the Tai Chi group attended 6-week group- plus 6-week home-based Tai Chi program. Outcome measures included physical functions, cardiovascular risk factors, and exercise self-efficacy. Data were collected at baseline, 6-week, 12-week, and 24-week. Intervention effects were analysed using the generalized estimating equation model. Compared with changes in the control group, the intervention group achieved significant improvements in aerobic endurance, lower-body strength, agility and dynamic balance, diastolic blood pressure, and exercise self-efficacy over the 24-week study period (all Ps < 0.05). Intervention adherence was high (79.6% of participants attending >75% of all Tai Chi sessions).

CONCLUSIONS

This Tai Chi program significantly improved the functional health of patients with CHD, indicating that Tai Chi could be taught in group sessions and then continued independently as a home exercise routine for health promotion.

Effect of Tai Chi on cardiac function in patients with myocardial infarction: A protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Myocardial infarction is 1 of the most serious cardiovascular diseases. Early interventional therapy preserves the cardiac function of patients with myocardial infarction to the greatest extent, but it is far from meeting people's need only limited to cardiac revascularization. It is also necessary to help patients improve their quality of life, exercise tolerance, and reduce the incidence of acute cardiac recurrence as much as possible. All these depend on cardiac rehabilitation (CR) are based on exercise. Early and correct CR helps to improve the patient's heart function and improve living standards. Traditional Chinese exercise Tai Chi as an alternative form of CR has gradually become popular, but it lacks large samples and high-quality clinical studies to verify it. This study aims to explore the effect of Tai Chi on the cardiac function of patients with myocardial infarction, and to provide a strong basis for patients to choose which CR exercise.

METHODS

This is a prospective randomized controlled trial. 272 patients with myocardial infarction will be randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group according to 1:1, with 136 cases in each group. The control group: conventional treatment; the experimental group: increase Tai Chi exercise on the basis of the control group. Both groups will receive standard treatment for 24 weeks and will be followed up for 3 months. Observation indicators include: total effective rate, 6 minutes walking test, brain natriuretic peptide, left ventricular ejection fraction, the adverse reaction rate, etc. The data will be analyzed by using SPSS 25.0 software.

DISCUSSION

This study will evaluate the effect of Tai Chi on the cardiac function of patients with myocardial infarction. The results of this test will provide clinical evidence for patients to choose which CR exercise.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

OSF Registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/QKWDP.

Relationship between knee alignment in asymptomatic subjects and flexibility of the main muscles that are functionally related to the knee

Objective To assess the relationship between static frontal knee alignment in asymptomatic subjects and flexibility of the main muscles functionally related to the knee. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 33 healthy adults (19-31 years). The frontal knee angle (valgus/varus angle) was measured by photogrammetry and it was measured in the lateral side. Therefore, high values were assigned for genu varum and low values for genu valgum. Iliopsoas, gluteus maximus and medius, rectus femoris, biceps femoris, vastus of the quadriceps, and gastrocnemius muscles were stretched. Muscles were classified as normal, reflex hypomobile, or structural hypomobile. Results Women had significantly greater valgus than did men (right angle, women: 174.41°/men: 177.41°; left angle, women: 174.20°/men: 178.70°). The right frontal plane knee angle was higher in women with structural hypomobile vastus. The left frontal plane knee angle was higher in women with structural hypomobile iliopsoas. No relationships were found in men. Conclusions A tighter vastus of the quadriceps and tighter iliopsoas are related to greater genu varum in adult women. Stretching the vastus of the quadriceps and iliopsoas when there is a tendency for excess varus in the knee, to prevent overuse injury or early osteoarthritis, might be clinically relevant.

Effects of Tai Chi-based cardiac rehabilitation on aerobic endurance, psychosocial well-being, and cardiovascular risk reduction among patients with coronary heart disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Tai Chi is an attractive exercise to improve cardiovascular health. This review aimed to synthesize articles written both in Chinese and in English to evaluate the effects of Tai Chi-based cardiac rehabilitation on aerobic endurance, psychosocial well-being and cardiovascular diseases risk reduction for coronary heart diseases patients.

METHODS

PRISMA guidelines were used to search major health databases to identify randomized controlled trials or non-randomized controlled clinical trials that evaluated Tai Chi intervention compared with active or non-active control groups in coronary heart disease patients. When suitable, data were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis model.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Tai Chi groups showed a large and significant improvement in aerobic endurance compared with both active and non-active control interventions (standard mean difference (SMD) 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58-1.66; p <0.001). Tai Chi groups also showed a significantly lower level of anxiety (SMD=9.28; CI: 17.46-1.10; p=0.03) and depression (SMD=9.42; CI: 13.59-5.26; p <0.001), and significantly better quality of life (SMD=0.73; 95% CI: 0.39-1.08; p <0.001) compared with non-active control groups.

CONCLUSION

Significant effects of Tai Chi have been found in improving aerobic endurance and psychosocial well-being among coronary heart disease patients. Tai Chi could be a cost-effective and safe exercise option in cardiac rehabilitation. However, the effect of Tai Chi on cardiovascular disease risk reduction has not been amply investigated among coronary heart disease patients. Caution is also warranted in view of a small number of studies for this meta-analysis and potential heterogeneity in differences in the varied designs of Tai Chi intervention.

Effects of community-based meditative Tai Chi programme on improving quality of life, physical and mental health in chronic heart-failure participants

BACKGROUND

There is increasing evidence that coronary heart disease is linked with a number of psychosocial risk factors and biophysiological risk factors such as metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to compare Tai Chi programme heart-failure participants between the pre-intervention phase and six month after intervention time in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), including physical health, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional and mental health. In addition, the difference between pre-intervention and post-intervention time in psychological distress and resilience, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were compared.

METHODS

A prospective intervention study was conducted in 2012 to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based meditation Tai Chi intervention programme to improve heart-failure patients' health. Measures included the Short-Form 12 Health Survey (SF-12), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ30), resilience scale, BMI, blood pressure and waist circumference. Univariate analysis of variance was used to compare the difference between pre- and post-intervention in Tai Chi participants.

RESULTS

Outcomes differed in significance and magnitude across four HRQoL measures, psychological distress and resilience between the pre- and post-intervention time in heart-failure patients who participated in the Tai Chi exercise. The participants in the post-intervention time also reduced BMI, SBP, and waist circumference.

CONCLUSIONS

Regular and more than six months Tai Chi exercises had a beneficial effect to HRQoL, reducing psychological distress, promoting resilience, and reducing the BMI and blood pressure level in heart-failure patients.