JAMA Netw Open: Insomnia? Then fight tai chi

Data show that more than 50% of the world's elderly have sleep disorders, including insomnia rates as high as 20% to 40%.
insomnia and persistent sleep disorders can affect quality of life and may increase mortality and morbidity.
29.8 percent of people with sleep problems improve their sleep through physical and mental medicine, according to the 2017 National Health Survey.
tai chi is a physically and mentally healthy sport, and studies have shown that it improves sleep quality.
although subjective data are valuable for evaluating insomnia treatment responses, the placebo effect may affect the reliability of the data.
, to accurately evaluate the effect of tai chi on insomnia treatment, subjective and objective measurements must be included.
, a recent study published in JAMA Netw Open showed that tai chi interventions, similar to traditional exercise methods, can improve insomnia and have beneficial effects for 24 months.
tai chi can be used as an alternative to insomnia.
In this three-arm parallel cluster randomized trial involving 320 participants over the age of 60 with chronic insomnia, the exclusion criteria included: (1) regular moderate-intensity exercise or tai chi (i.e., weekly 3 times, 30 minutes per course of treatment), (2) any physical disability, (3) known to cause sleep disturbances as a major confraging factor, such as severe chronic diseases (e.g., cancer, autoimmune diseases) and related treatments (e.g., cancer chemotherapy) or chronic pain disorders.
, the participants were divided into three groups: control group, sports group and tai chi group.
control group did not intervene, only calling every month to inquire about sleep.
exercise group developed a routine exercise plan, including fast walking and muscle-strengthening exercise, for 12 weeks.
tai chi group developed a Yang-style 24-style tai chi training program, which is also the most commonly used by researchers tai chi form and style, for 12 weeks.
two interventions included three one-hour training sessions per week.
results showed that the sleep efficiency of participants in both the exercise group and tai chi group improved compared to the control group, although there was no significant difference between the post-intervention exercise group and the tai chi group, but the sleep efficiency of tai chi group improved more significantly after follow-up.
, participants in the exercise group and tai chi group had less wake-up time than the control group, and only the tai chi group achieved statistical significance.
, however, there was no significant difference in the sleep incubation period between the three groups.
follow-up, only the control group and tai chi group participants had significantly lower sleep incubation periods.
Insomnia remission rate and response rate (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Score Change ≥5) In addition, participants in the exercise group and tai chi group had higher rates of insomnia relief, 19.4 percent and 34.4 percent, respectively, compared to the control group.
compared with the control group, the treatment response rate was higher in the post-intervention and follow-up sports group and tai chi group, and there was no significant difference between the exercise group and tai chi group during the two evaluations.
In the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) assessment, compared with the control group, both the exercise group and the tai chi group showed a decrease in PSQI and ISI after intervention and follow-up, and the decline in the tai chi group after the intervention was greater than that of the exercise group, but there was no significant difference between the following groups.
in the parameters of the self-reported sleep diary, including sleep efficiency, wake-up time, and total sleep time.
compared with the control group, there was no significant change in sleep efficiency, wake-up time and total sleep time after intervention, but the tai chi group showed favorable changes in subjectively measured sleep diary parameters.
compared with the control group, the sleep efficiency, wake-up time and total follow-up sleep time of the exercise group and tai chi group all increased, and there was no significant difference between the two intervention methods.
, the subgroup analysis showed that both the exercise group and the tai chi group showed a decrease in hypnotic drug use in both assessments compared to the control group.
, tai chi interventions are similar to traditional exercise methods in that they improve the objective parameters of sleep and are still beneficial after 24 months.
although tai chi improved subjective sleep parameters more significantly after the intervention was completed than regular exercise, the size of these benefits did not vary after 24 months in the intervention group.
, tai chi is an alternative treatment for insomnia in the elderly.