“The fact that tai chi is inexpensive, convenient, and enjoyable and conveys other psychological and social benefits supports the idea that a smaller effect size may be considered worthwhile for this type of intervention.”—Amanda Hall, PhD
The effect sizes were small, but researchers led by Amanda Hall, PhD, of the George Institute in Sydney, Australia, point out that tai chi is also “inexpensive, convenient, and enjoyable and conveys other psychological and social benefits supports the idea that a smaller effect size may be considered worthwhile for this type of intervention.”Tai chi improved pain by 10 points on 0-100 scale
The researchers analyzed 7 eligible randomized controlled trials of tai chi comprising a total of 321 participants with musculoskeletal pain. Pooled analysis showed that tai chi improved self-assessed pain and disability by about 10 points on a scale of 0-100.
Specifically, The pooled effect size was 10.1 (range 6.3-13.9) points for pain reduction and 9.6 (range 5.2-14.0) points for disability reduction among people with arthritis, the study found. Moreover, physical performance and health-related quality of life outcomes favored tai chi, but only the level of tension and satisfaction with general health were statistically significant.
However, “these are short term effects, seen directly after the course of treatment: data regarding long term effects were not available....It is possible that these effects may decrease over time for individuals who do not continue to regularly practice tai chi,” Dr. Hall notes.
The studies in the new review all compared tai chi to usual health care, health education, or wait list control, the authors point out.
“To establish the specific effects of tai chi, a placebo-controlled trial would be necessary, however, no such trial has yet been conducted,” the study authors write.
Translating research into practice: encourage tai chi for arthritis patients
Chen Chen Wang, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and a rheumatologist at the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston has published numerous studies on the use of tai chi in rheumatic conditions. None of Dr. Wang’s studies were included in the new analysis.
“We need better studies of tai chi,” Dr. Wang agreed, “but it is safe and we have seen improvements in many measures such as pain, cardiovascular health, anxiety, depression and muscle strength in rheumatic and pain patients.”
“Tai chi is slow and low-impact and very good for patients with chronic pain from arthritis,” she said. Dr. Wang is slated to report new data on the use of tai chi in fibromyalgia patients at the 2009 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, which will be held in Philadelphia in October.
“We see improvements in fibromyalgia patients, but we are still analyzing this data,” she said.
References
1. Hall A, Maher C, Latimer J, et al. The effectiveness of tai chi for chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Arthritis Care & Research. 2009;61: 717-724.
PubMed: Related Articles