Tai Chi Research for Older Adults
This is an index of 60 published studies from PubMed on tai chi and related exercise in older adults, from 2021 to 2026. Each title opens its PubMed page, so you can read the abstract yourself.
Please read this first. This page lists studies. It does not summarize their findings or give medical advice, and a study's title is not a promise of any result.
None of these studies evaluated Steady Steps lessons. Some look at other kinds of exercise, or combine tai chi with other treatments. Talk with your doctor about what's right for you.
Browse by topic
Falls and fear of falling
- Fall Prevention Interventions for Cognitively Impaired Older Adults: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis
- Optimal type and dose of exercise to improve fall behavior in older adults: A systematic evaluation and network meta-analysis
- Remote exercise snacking and fall-related functional outcomes in older adults: a systematic review including a meta-analysis
- The effectiveness of a nation-wide implemented fall prevention intervention in the Netherlands in reducing falls and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling older adults with an increased risk of falls: a randomized controlled trial
- Effects of Tai Chi on balance and fall prevention in healthy older adults: a randomized controlled meta-analysis
- Effectiveness of Tai Chi exercise on balance, falls, and motor function in older adults: a meta-analysis
- Falls prevention interventions for community-dwelling older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of benefits, harms, and patient values and preferences
- The effects of different types of Tai Chi exercises on preventing falls in older adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
- A comparison between effects of Square-Stepping Exercise and Tai Chi Chuan on functional fitness and fear of falling in older women
- Effectiveness of Tai Chi exercise on fear of falling and balance in older adults: A meta-analysis
- Effectiveness of exercise on fall prevention in community-dwelling older adults: a 2-year randomized controlled study of 914 women
- Tai Chi for fall prevention and balance improvement in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Network meta-analysis of the efficacy of four traditional Chinese physical exercise therapies on the prevention of falls in the elderly
- Managing Fall Prevention through Exercise in Older Adults Afflicted by Cognitive and Strength Impairment
Balance and postural stability
- Effectiveness of aquatic Tai Chi on balance indicators: a systematic review
- Effects of a 12-week Tai Chi program on postural stability and gait biomechanics in prefrail older adults: a randomized controlled study
- Exercise modalities for overall and domain-specific balance performance in older adults: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis
- Effects of Tai Chi Chuan on Older Adults' Balance: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis
- Effects of Tai Chi Chuan on balance function in adults 60 years or older with type 2 diabetes and mild cognitive impairment in China: A secondary analysis of a multi-center randomized clinical trial
- Efficacy of Tai Chi and Roliball Exercise on Balance, Mobility, and Cognitive Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- The effectiveness of exercise interventions on muscle strength and balance function in pre-frail older adults: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis
- Comparing the effectiveness of five traditional Chinese exercises in improving balance function in older adults: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis
- Effects of different exercise types on balance function in healthy older adults and Parkinson's patients: a systematic review
- Tai chi improves balance performance in healthy older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- The effect of Tai Chi lower extremity exercise on the balance control of older adults in assistant living communities
- Analyzing the influence of the combination of monochromatic infrared energy and tai chi exercise improve balance in community-dwelling older adults with lower-extremity disease: a double-blinded randomized controlled study
Knee osteoarthritis and chronic pain
- Comparative efficacy of traditional and modern mind-body exercises in middle-aged and older adults with knee osteoarthritis: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Lower-Extremity Interjoint Coordination During Stair Ascent in Knee Osteoarthritis and the Therapeutic Response to Tai Chi Training
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Asian Exercise Techniques and Various Physical Activity Interventions in Middle and Late Adulthood Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis
- Effect of traditional Chinese exercises on knee osteoarthritis: A network meta-analysis
- The effects of Tai Chi on clinical outcomes and gait biomechanics in knee osteoarthritis patients: a pilot randomized controlled trial
- Are Mind-Body Exercise Beneficial for Treating Pain, Function, and Quality of Life in Middle-Aged and Old People With Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- Clinical relevance of Tai Chi on pain and physical function in adults with knee osteoarthritis: An ancillary meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Tai Chi for spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity in elderly female patients with non-specific low back pain: A six-week randomized controlled trial
Memory and thinking
- Additional Effects of 1-Hz rTMS Combined With Tai Chi Chuan on Dual-Task Performance Among Older Adults With Sleep Disorders and MCI: An fNIRS-Based Randomized Controlled Trial
- Comparing Tai Chi, Baduanjin, square dance, and Latin dance for cognitive and physical benefits in older adults: a randomized controlled trial
- Multi-domain Online Therapeutic Investigation Of Neurocognition (MOTION) - A randomized comparative-effectiveness study of two remotely delivered mind-body interventions for older adults with cognitive decline
- Effects of home-based computerized cognitive training and tai chi exercise on cognitive functions in older adults with mild cognitive impairment
- Effects of mind-body exercise on cognitive performance in middle-aged and older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A meta-analysis study
- Combined Tai Chi and cognitive interventions for older adults with or without cognitive impairment: A meta-analysis and systematic review
Strength, walking and frailty
- Effects of Tai Chi combined with elastic band training on muscle and executive inhibitory function in older adults with sarcopenia: a randomized controlled trial based on fNIRS
- Effects of digitalized Tai Chi intervention on muscle function and physical performance in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- The impact of community-based Tai Chi exercise on intrinsic capacity improvement in the elderly: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Effect of Tai Chi Softball on Health-Related Outcomes in Elderly Men
- Effects of different types of Tai Chi intervention on motor function in older adults: a systematic review
- Effects of physical exercise on physical and mental health in older adults with gait disorders: A systematic review
- Efficacy of the power centering for seniors intervention on physical functional performance in older community-dwelling adults: a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial
- Impact of a functional gait training program as a complementary strategy to improve physical function in older adults: a randomized clinical trial
- Multimodal respiratory muscle training and Tai Chi intervention with healthy older adults: A double-blind randomised placebo control trial
- Effectiveness of Resistance Band Use in Conjunction With Tai Chi Among Older Adults With Prefrailty to Improve Functional Fitness, Quality of Life, and Heart Rate Variability
- Long-term Tai Chi practice in older adults is associated with "younger" functional abilities
- The Efficacy of 12-Week Progressive Home-Based Strength and Tai-Chi Exercise Snacking in Older Adults: A Mixed-Method Exploratory Randomised Control Trial
- Effects of tai chi on postural balance and quality of life among the elderly with gait disorders: A systematic review
- The effect of Tai Chi in elderly individuals with sarcopenia and frailty: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Sleep, Parkinson's, diabetes and research overviews
- Impact of digital Tai Chi interventions on the physical and mental health of older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Global research on Chinese martial arts (1974-2025): A bibliometric and visualization-based analysis using Web of Science
- Global trends and interdisciplinary insights in Tai Chi research: a bibliometric analysis (2004-2024)
- Effects of traditional Chinese exercise on sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Tai Chi Program to Improve Glucose Control and Quality of Life for the Elderly With Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis
- The effects of different types of Tai Chi exercises on motor function in patients with Parkinson's disease: A network meta-analysis
About this list
Study types are Meta-Analysis, Randomized Controlled Trial and Systematic Review. We grouped each study under one topic based on its title, and newer studies come first. List updated October 2026.
You can download the full list as a CSV file, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit to Steady Steps Tai Chi.
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