Effectiveness of Tai Chi for Health Promotion of Older Adults: A Scoping Review of Meta-Analyses

Tai Chi is a form of exercise that is accessible to people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, making it a potentially valuable activity for health promotion of older adults. The objective of this scoping review was to summarize the current knowledge about the effectiveness of Tai Chi for older adults across a range of general health outcomes from published, peer reviewed, unique meta-analyses. Meta-analyses were retrieved from database inception to late August 2019. “High” and “moderate” quality evidence extracted from these meta-analyses demonstrated that practicing Tai Chi can significantly improve balance, cardiorespiratory fitness, cognition, mobility, proprioception, sleep, and strength; reduce the incidence of falls and nonfatal stroke; and decrease stroke risk factors. Health care providers can now recommend Tai Chi with high level of certainty for health promotion of older adults across a range of general health outcomes for improvement of overall well-being.