Research Table Summary - Center for Chen Taiji Studies

Table Summary of Select Taiji Research Studies

Author	Category	Design	Subjects	Results
Van Deusen & Harlowe, 1987	Orthopedic disease (rheumatoid arthritis)	Randomized controlled clinical trial	Rheumatoid arthritis - Taiji: 17 Control: 16	Taiji has positive effects on the range of motion of the upper extremities.
Jin, 1989	Psychological & Physiological	Randomized controlled trial	Healthy-- Beginners: 33 Practitioners: 33	Taiji practice has positive effects as moderate exercise in selected psychological and physiological measures.
Kirsteins, et al., 1991	Orthopedic disease (rheumatoid arthritis)	Comparative study	Two Taiji groups: 20, 20 Two control groups: 11, 9	"Taiji appears safe to RA patients and may serve as an alternative for their exercise therapy and part of their rehabilitation program."
Tse & Bailey, 1992	Postural control	Cross-sectional study	Healthy community dwelling elderly- Taiji: 9 Non-Taiji: 9	Taiji has positive effects on postural control.
Lai, et al., 1993	Cardiorespiratory function	Case control study	Healthy community dwelling middle aged adults-- Taiji: 41 Control: 49	"Taiji may be beneficial to the cardiorespiratory function of older individuals."
Lai, et al., 1995	Cardiorespiratory function	Cohort study, Comparative study	Healthy community dwelling older adults-- Taiji: 45 Control: 39	Taiji practice may delay the decline of cardiorespiratory function of older adults. Taiji is an aerobic exercise.
Lan, et al., 1996	Cardiorespiratory function	Case control study	Healthy community dwelling older adults-- Taiji: 41 Control: 35	"Taiji practitioners have higher peak oxygen uptake and higher oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold.Taiji can be prescribed as a conditioning exercise for older adults."
Schaller 1996	Cardiorespiratory function, Balance	Controlled clinical trial	Community dwelling elders-- Taiji: 24 Control: 22	Taiji practice improved balance but not systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Taiji might help community dwelling elders improve their balance. (Note - 10 Week intervention is too short to see change in blood presure.)
Wolf et al., 1996	Cardiorespiratory function, Fall	Prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial	Community dwelling elderly adults-- Taiji: 72 Balance: 64 Education: 64	Taiji training reduced the rate of falls and fear of falling, and lowered blood pressure.
Wolfson et al., 1996	Fall	Randomized controlled trial	Healthy community dwelling older adults-- Balance: 28 Strength: 28 Balance + Strength: 27 Control: 27	Taiji training has the effect of maintaining the significant balance and strength gains obtained in strength and balance training.
Jacobson, et al., 1997	Balance training	Randomized controlled trial	Healthy volunteers with mean age of 45-- Taiji: 12 Control: 12	Taiji training improved lateral body stability and the strength of the dominant knee extensor significantly. Taiji may be a low stress method for lateral stability and the strength of knee extensor.
Kutner et al., 1997	Psychological	Prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial	Community dwelling elderly adults-- Taiji: 72 Balance: 64 Education: 64	Both TC and BT increased participants' confidence in balance and movement, but only TC affected daily activities and their overall life.
Lan, et al., 1998	Health fitness	Case (taiji, voluntarily ) and control study	Community dwelling elderly adults-- Taiji: 20 Control: 18	TC group significantly improved VO2max, flexibility, and strength of knee extensor and flexor. A 12-month Taiji program appears effective to improve older adults' fitness.
Yan, J. H., 1998	Postural control Motor control	? Subjects chose to do taiji or walking	Older adults at nursing home-- Taiji: 28; Walking: 10	Taiji may improve older adults' dynamic balance and smoothness of arm movement.
Hain et al., 1999	Postural control	Before-after trial (?)	22 with mild balance disorders	Taiji training significantly improved balance.
Husted et al., 1999	Psychosocial and effects	Nonrandomized study	Patients with multiple sclerosis	An 8-week Taiji training increased walking speed by 21% and hamstring flexibility by 28%. Patients also improved in vitality, social functioning, mental health, and ability to carry out physical and emotional roles.
Lan, et al., 1999	Cardiorespiratory function	Prospective study	Low-risk with coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS)-- Taiji: 9 Control: 11	Taiji training increased VO2 and work rate. Taiji also increased ventilatory threshold VO2 and work rate. Taiji can favorably enhance cardiorespiratory function for low risk patients with coronary artery bypass surgery.
Yan, J.H. 1999	Motor control	Follow-up studies	Older adults (mean=79)-- Taiji: 12 Walking/jogging: 8	Taiji reduced the force variability in arm movement.
Hong, et al., 2000	Balance control, Flexibility, Cardiorespiratory function	Cross sectional study	Healthy male adults-- Taiji: 28 (mean=67) Control (sedentary): 30 (mean=66)	Taiji may have favorable effects on older adults' balance, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Lan, et al., 2000	Strength and endurance (knee extensor)	Before-after trial	Healthy community dwelling elderly adults-- 41 (mean=61)	A 6-month Taiji program increased concentric and eccentric knee extensor torque and knee extensor endurance ratio. Taiji training may improve muscular strength and endurance of knee extensors in elderly individuals.
Lin, et al., 2000	Postural control/balance	Cross-sectional study	Healthy community dwelling elderly adults-- Taiji: 14 (mean=71) Control (active): 14 (mean=79)	Regular Taiji practice might lead to better posutral control, especially in the more complicated conditions with disturbed visual and somatosensory information.
Lan, et al., 2001	Cardiorespiratory function	Comparative study? (measure the HR and % of vo2 during Taiji)	15 healthy community dwelling middle- aged men (mean=40)	Taiji is an aerobic exercise with moderate intensity.
Li, et al., 2001	Self-efficacy, Self function	Randomized controlled trial	98 low-active healthy elderly 65-96, mean=73.2 /sd= 4.91). Taiji: 49 Control: 45	Taiji training has effects on both self-efficacy and self function.
Wang, et al., 2001	Microcirculatory function (cardiorespiratory function?)	Case-control study	Healthy community dwelling elderly males-- Taiji: 10 (mean=70) Control: 10 (mean=67)	Compared to their sedentary counterparts, Taiji had higher cutaneous microcirculatory function during exercise.
Christou et al., 2003	Strength and force control	Clinical trial	Healthy community dwelling older adults-- Taiji group: 16 (mean age 71 yrs.) Control group: 10 (mean age 74 yrs)	A 20 week Taiji program is effective in improving knee extensor strength and force control in older adults.
Irwin et al., 2003	Immunity --varicella-zoster virus (VZV) specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI)	Randomized controlled trial	36 older adults (age >=60 yrs.) with impairments of health status and are at risk for shingles--Taiji group: 18, Wait group: 18	A 15 week Taiji training boosts shingles immunity significantly (an increase in VZV-specific CMI).
Rosengren et al., 2003	Taiji movement quantification	Clinical trial	16 healthy community dwelling older adults (mean age 71 yrs)	Intervention programs that use Taiji should be at least 4 months long for individuals to achieve a moderate level of Taiji skill.
Song et al., 2003	Musculoskeletal disorder--Osteoarthritis (OA)	Randomized controlled trial	43 older women with OA--Taiji group: 22, Control group: 21	A 12 week Taiji program is effective in improving OA patients� arthritic symptoms, balance, and physical functioning.
Taggart et al., 2003	Musculoskeltal disorder--Fibromyalgia (FM)	Controlled clinical trial	21 patients with FM completed a 6 week Taiji program	Taiji is potentially beneficial to patients with FM.
Chan et al., 2004	Bone mineral density	Randomized controlled trial	132 healthy postmenopausal women (mean age 54 yrs.) were randomized assigned to two groups: Taiji group: 67, Control group: 65	A 12 month Taiji program is beneficial for slowing bone loss in weight-bearing bones in early postmenopausal women.
Han et al., 2004	Orthopedic disease (rheumatoid arthritis)	Review	Rheumatoid arthritis patients	Taiji does not aggravate symptoms of RA. Taiji is effective in improving lower extremity range of motion, in particular ankle range of motion, for RA patients.
Lan et al., 2004	Intensity evaluation	Evaluation	100 community dwelling Taiji practitioners aged 25-80 were divided into three groups: Young: 25-44 yrs., Middle-aged: 45-64 yrs., Elderly: 65-80 yrs.	"Taiji is exercise with moderate intensity. It is an aerobic exercise and suitable for participants of different ages and gender to improve their functional capacity."
Li et al.,2004	Sleep disorder	Randomized controlled trial	118 Community dwelling older adults with moderate sleep complaints--Taiji group: 62, Low-impact exercise group: 56	A 6 month Taiji program has positive effect on self-rated sleep quality of older adults with moderate sleep complaints.
Wu et al., 2004	Taiji movement quantification (Taiji gait)	Evaluation	10 Taiji practitioners with mean age of 27 yrs.	The biomechanical characteristics of Taiji gait can be quantified. The quantification of Taiji movement will enhance our understanding of its effects on balance, strength, flexibility, and health.