Wearable device-telemonitored Baduanjin for chronic heart failure: A systematic review of effects on exercise tolerance and cardiac function

OBJECTIVE: This review evaluates the effects of wearable device-telemonitored Baduanjin on exercise tolerance and cardiac function in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, VIP Database and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) from their inception to 1 January 2026. The search aimed to identify randomised controlled trials investigating Baduanjin for CHF that explicitly used wearable devices. Study screening, data extraction and Cochrane RoB 2.0 bias assessment were performed independently by two reviewers with discrepancies were resolved by a third. Given significant clinical heterogeneity across the included studies, a narrative synthesis of the findings was conducted, supported by tabulated presentation of outcome data. RESULTS: Three randomized controlled trials involving 248 participants were included. Individual studies reported that wearable device-telemonitored Baduanjin was associated with improvements in several clinical outcomes in patients with CHF. Reported benefits included increased 6-minute walking distance (568.58 m vs. 367.47 m, P < 0.05), higher peak oxygen uptake (19.00 vs. 17.00 ml/[kg·min], P < 0.001) and improved left ventricular ejection fraction (52.60% vs. 45.28% and 42.79%, P < 0.05). Improvements were also observed in quality of life, depression symptoms, cardiovascular readmission in the intervention group of individual studies. No exercise-related adverse events were reported. CONCLUSION: Current evidence suggests that wearable device-telemonitored Baduanjin may potentially improve key outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure, However, these findings are based on a narrative synthesis of individual studies and should therefore be interpreted cautiously. Further high-quality, standardised randomised controlled trials are urgently needed.