Evidence Map of Tai Chi and Qigong: Update from 2014-2024

Mak S, Allen J, De Vries G, Begashaw M, Severin J, Miake-Lye I, Shekelle P. Evidence Map of Tai Chi and Qigong: Update from 2014-2024. VA Evidence Synthesis Program Reports. Washington (DC): Department of Veterans Affairs (US); 2025 Aug 1.

This review identified 26 systematic reviews published since 2014 that assessed the effectiveness of tai chi or qigong across 21 adult health conditions. Among these, 2 reviews (on hypertension and osteoporosis) concluded with high certainty of benefit, while 16 reviews showed moderate certainty of benefit for conditions such as chronic low back pain, diabetes, depression, falls, and knee osteoarthritis. Each review compared tai chi or qigong to another active therapy (eg, exercise, education), and more than half of the reviews included over 10 primary studies. Evidence on adverse events was reported in 69% of reviews, with no serious harms generally noted. One review about tai chi and falls did report moderate certainty of evidence for small harms from any adverse event. Future research should focus on expanding high-quality trials to other conditions and implementing protocols to collect data on adverse events to further inform clinical and policy decisions.