4.1. Main findings
Respiratory Disease, Anxiety, anxiety, depression, COPD
RESPIRATORY DISEASES, COPD, AIDS, DISEASE COURSE
Compared with the control group, Tai Chi treatment dramatically reduced the occurrence of the acute exacerbation by 28.3 percent. Tai Chi exercise training can positively impact the immune system and particularly natural killer cells in healthy people.Similar to previous reports,Although our study occurred during the on-going epidemic, the pandemic didn’t affect participants’ ability to engage in the intervention or to get any usual treatment. Our follow-ups were finished mainly by telephone.Considering that prospective information on the efficacy of the usual treatment combined with Tai Chi is limited, we aimed to establish and extend the available data on patients with moderate to severe COPD. To our knowledge, this is the first study to add Tai Chi to the usual treatment, and we found that Tai Chi substantially aids in the recovery of patients with moderate to severe COPD. In addition, the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire score of the Tai Chi group was higher than that of the control group. This study also demonstrated that Tai Chi contributed to clinically meaningful improvements in the SGRQ.Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese exercise, is not difficult to learn. Tai Chi, including soft movements and coordination of body and respiration, is favorable to the adjustments of breathing, physical activity and mind.Anxiety and depression resemble clinical manifestations of COPD, which are sometimes difficult to identify and treat. Patients with COPD generally have a high prevalence of anxiety and depression. A previous study demonstrated that anxiety and/or depression contributes to the risk of exacerbations of COPD.Tai Chi is a low to moderate intensity exercise, which is mainly marked by concentration, structural adjustment and flexibility to relax the body and mind. It is easy to learn and does not require much effort, therefore, practically anyone may practice it at home. As a result, this study could be useful in identifying the benefits of Tai Chi on quality of life and psychology.Comparing to the usual short-term pulmonary rehabilitation project for COPD patients who have completed, Tai Chi could be a long-term and minimal budget to maintain physical activity. It is necessary for patients with COPD to try various lifestyle behaviors, especially those that can positively influence the disease course. Consistent with previous studies, most COPD patients thought that Tai Chi was a joyful and interesting program to promote exercise self-efficacy, and they intended to continue Tai Chi exercise after the study.One of the fundamental limitations of this study was that the participants could not be blinded owing to the nature of the intervention. Because the experimental group was required to practice Tai Chi, the participants were in a position to tell whether they were in the experimental or comparator group. This information may have an effect on the study’s findings by affecting other behaviors that may differ between the groups.Large-scale randomized controlled trials are necessary because of our small number observers.