BACKGROUND: Tai Chi is an ancient form of physical activity that has been shown to improve cardiovascular function, but to date there had been no comprehensive systematic review on the effect of Tai Chi exercise on balance function of patients with stroke. This study evaluated the effect of Tai Chi exercise on balance function in stroke patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane library, and China National Knowledge Information databases and the Wan Fang medical network were searched to collect the articles. The random-effects model was used to assess the effect of Tai Chi exercise on balance function of stroke patients.

RESULTS: Six studies were chosen to perform the meta-analysis according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There were significant improvements of balance on Berg Balance Scale score (MD=4.823, 95% CI: 2.138–7.508), the standing balance with fall rates (RR=0.300, 95%CI: 0.120–0.770), functional reach test and dynamic gait index in Tai Chi intervention group compared to the control intervention group. However, the short physical performance battery for balance (SPBB) showed Tai Chi did not significantly improve the ability of balance for stroke patients (MD=0.293, 95%CI: –0.099~0.685).

CONCLUSIONS: Tai Chi exercise might have a significant impact in improving balance efficiency by increasing BBS score and reducing fall rate.

Keywords: postural balance, Stroke, Tai Ji