Review of Clinical Trials on the Effects of Tai Chi Practice on Primary Hypertension: The Current State of Study Design and Quality Control

Author: Yuke Teng1, Sha Yang1, Yuan Chen2, Yuyi Guo1, Yushi Hu3,4, Pan Zhang1, Jingya Cao1, Xinyue Zhang1, Yalan Chen1, Caili Jiang1, Tianyu Liu5, Fang Zeng1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Acupuncture and Tuina School/The 3rd Teaching Hospital, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. <sup>2</sup> International Education School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. <sup>3</sup> Sports Medicine and Health School, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. <sup>4</sup> Sport Hospital Affiliated to Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. <sup>5</sup> Sports School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Conference/Journal: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
Date published: 2020 Dec 30
Other: Volume ID: 2020 , Pages: 6637489 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1155/2020/6637489. , Word Count: 188


The modulation of Tai Chi in physiological function and psychological status attracts sustaining attention. This paper collected original articles regarding the effects of Tai Chi practice on modulating primary hypertension from 7 electronic databases (PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Database, and China Science and Technology Journal Database) from their dates of origin to October 1st, 2020. A total of 45 articles were included. The literature analyses have shown that the benefits of Tai Chi practice for blood pressure management have been identified in all of the included 45 studies, and Tai Chi exercise has shown significant efficacy in improving hypertension clinical symptoms and quality of life, compared to the majority of control interventions, though there are also some methodological issues, including small sample sizes, lack of exact randomization methods and quality control criteria, and lack of specific standards used to measure the characteristics of Tai Chi practice. In the future, the inclusion of additional design standards, stricter quality controls, and evaluation measures for the features of Tai Chi practice is required in trials evaluating its effects on hypertension.


PMID: 33456486 PMCID: PMC7787759 DOI: 10.1155/2020/6637489