A Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Tai Chi in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease between 2008 and 2014

Table 1

Characteristics of randomized controlled trials of Tai Chi for Parkinson’s disease.

First author, year, country	Sample size	Mean age (year)	Hoehn and Yahr stage	Treatment duration (week)	Main outcome; assessments	Experimental group; intervention	Control group; intervention
Hackney, 2008,; US [12]	33	64	1.5–3	10–13	UPDRS III, BBS, gait, TUG, six-minute walk	Yang-style Tai Chi; (60 min/20 sessions)	No intervention
Hackney, 2009,; US [13]	75	67	1–3	13	PDQ-39	Yang-style Tai Chi; (60 min/20 sessions)	(1) Tango; (2) Waltz/Foxtrot; (3) No intervention; (60 min/20 sessions)
Li, 2011,; China [14]	56	68	2.5–3	8	UPDRS III, BBS, PDQ-39	Tai Chi; (30–45 min/80 sessions)	Walking; (40 min/80 sessions)
Zhu, 2011,; China [15]	40	64	1-2	4	UPDRS III, BBS	Tai Chi; (30–45 min/40 sessions)	Walking; (40 min/40 sessions)
Li, 2012,; US [10]	195	69	1–4	24	UPDRS III, gait, TUG, functional-reach test	Tai Chi; (60 min/48 sessions)	(1) Stretching; (2) Resistance training; (60 min/48 sessions)
Amano, 2013,; US [11]	45	66	2-3	16	UPDRS III, gait	Yang-style Tai Chi; (60 min/32–48 sessions)	(1) Qigong; (60 min/32 sessions); (2) No intervention
Choi, 2013,; US [16]	22	63	1-2	12	UPDRS, TUG, gait, six-minute walk, one-leg standing	Tai Chi; (60 min/36 sessions)	No intervention
Nocera, 2013,; US [17]	23	66	2-3	16	Cognitive-executive function,; PDQ-39	Yang-style Tai Chi; (60 min/48 sessions)	No intervention
Gao, 2014,; China [18]	80	69	1–4	12	UPDRS III, BBS, TUG	Yang-style Tai Chi; (60 min/36 sessions)	No intervention

UPDRS: unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale; BBS: berg balance scale; TUG: timed up and go; PDQ-39: Parkinson’s disease questionnaire-39.