Effects of traditional Chinese exercise on physical and mental health and quality of survival in patients with stable angina pectoris: A meta-analysis

Objective

Coronary heart disease (CHD) poses a significant threat to patients' health, with stable angina pectoris (SAP) being prevalent among individuals with CHD. This study aims to evaluate the effects of Traditional Chinese Exercise (TCE) on the physical and mental well-being, as well as the quality of life, of patients suffering from SAP.

Methods

We searched databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, China Science and Technology Journal Database, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane and Embase for randomised controlled trials evaluating the effects of TCE on patients with SAP. Effect sizes and heterogeneity were calculated using RevMan 5.3 software.

Results

A total of 14 studies involving 1,288 participants were included in the analysis. Most studies were assessed to have a moderate risk of bias. The pooled results indicated that TCE significantly improved the 6-Minute Walk Test scores of patients with SAP (MD = 35.48, 95 % CI: 23.66–47.29, P < 0.001), enhanced scores across various dimensions of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (P < 0.05), and reduced levels of depression (MD = -6.32, 95 % CI: -9.13 to -3.51, P < 0.001) and anxiety (MD = -6.41, 95 % CI: -9.18 to -3.64, P < 0.001) among SAP patients. Additionally, the Egger's test revealed no significant publication bias across the outcomes (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

TCE significantly enhances the physical and mental health of SAP patients, leading to improved quality of life. Future studies with larger sample sizes and high methodological quality are needed to further evaluate the clinical efficacy of TCE.