Control Group Design: Enhancing Rigor in Research of Mind-Body Therapies for Depression

Table 2

Comparison of intervention and control group conditions in community-based RCTs of tai chi for adults with depression.

Author, date	Intervention group(s)	Control group(s)
Chou et al. (2004) [20]	45 minute tai chi class 3 times weekly for 3 months	Wait-list control
Cho (2008) [21]	3 tai chi classes per week for 3 months	Wait-list control
Lavretsky et al. (2011) [23]	2-hour tai chi class weekly for 10 weeks	Active control: health education attention-control 2-hour class weekly for 10 weeks
Cheng et al. (2012) [24]	1-hour tai chi class or mahjong game 3 times weekly for 3 months	Active control: handicrafts
Yeung et al. (2012) [22]	1-hour class twice weekly for 12 weeks	Wait-list control

The literature review inclusion criteria: community-based, randomized, and controlled studies published in 2000–2012; English; participants with confirmed diagnosis of depression; tai chi intervention group. Exclusion criteria: participants were inpatient/hospital-based; no clinical or confirmatory diagnosis of depression; non-randomized and non-controlled design; participants were excluded if they reported a psychiatric diagnosis.