Dose-effect Meta-analysis of Tai Chi Exercise in Improving Pain Symptoms of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective: To investigate the dose-effect relationship between the elements of Tai Chi exercise prescription and pain improvement in patients with knee osteoarthritis, aiming to provide evidence-based evidence for patients to provide more accurate Tai Chi intervention programs. Methods: Wanfang, CNKI, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials of Tai Chi exercise in patients with knee osteoarthritis in August 2024. Data were screened, evaluated, and extracted independently, and meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results: A total of 21 studies involving 1110 patients with KOA were included in this study. The results of meta-analysis showed that the effect of pain improvement was the strongest when the single exercise time was 21~40min (SMD was -0.79, P<0.05), and the effect of pain symptom improvement in patients with knee osteoarthritis would be decreased if the exercise time was too long or too short. The improvement effect of pain symptoms was strongest when the exercise frequency was 5 times a week (SMD was -1.09, P<0.05), and when the exercise cycle was 12 weeks, the pain symptom improvement effect was strongest (SMD was -0.7, P<0.05), and then the pain improvement effect decreased with the increase of exercise cycle. Conclusion: Patients with knee osteoarthritis are recommended to perform Tai Chi exercise for 21~40min 5 times a week for 12 weeks, and the maximum benefit of pain improvement can be obtained.