Effectiveness of mind–body exercises in chronic respiratory diseases: an overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses

Abstract

Purpose

To gather evidence on the effectiveness and safety of qigong, tai chi, and yoga to modulate symptoms associated with chronic respiratory diseases.

Methods

A search of systematic reviews was conducted in CINHAL, Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and the Cochrane Library from inception to November 2022. Systematic reviews with meta-analyses investigating physical and psychological measures were eligible. The methodological quality of systematic reviews (AMSTAR-2), the spin of information in abstracts, and the overlap of primary studies were explored.

Results

Twenty-seven systematic reviews involving 37 000 participants, 146 studies, and 150 meta-analyses were included. Reviews investigated asthma (n = 4) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n = 23). Most reviews discussed their findings without considering the risk of bias of primary studies. The overlap ranged between slight (5%) and very high (35%). Yoga was better than control interventions to improve symptoms related with asthma. In adults with COPD, qigong improved dyspnoea, exercise endurance, lung function, and quality of life, while tai chi and yoga increased exercise endurance.

Conclusions

The impact of yoga on symptoms associated with asthma varied depending on the lung function parameter and the control group. Qigong, tai chi, and yoga could be effective to improve COPD-related symptoms, especially exercise endurance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Qigong, tai chi, and yoga could be effective to improve symptoms associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

• Mind–body exercises promote self-care management and can be individually tailored.

• Due to no adverse effects, these interventions can be endorsed for rehabilitation as they appear to yield benefits

Keywords:

• Asthma
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• qigong
• systematic review
• tai chi
• yoga

OSF registry DOI:

• 10.17605/OSF.IO/DKG93

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability

The data that support the study findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.