Key result
Baduanjin improves exercise endurance, pulmonary function, and quality of life in stable COPD, especially long-term.
Why the study?
Baduanjin has garnered attention for potential rehabilitation benefits in stable-stage COPD, but existing research needed review and analysis to provide clinical insights.
Does Baduanjin improve clinical outcomes and quality of life in patients with stable-phase COPD?
Does Baduanjin improve clinical outcomes and quality of life in patients with stable-phase COPD?
Baduanjin is a promising rehabilitative exercise for stable-phase COPD that improves pulmonary function, symptoms, and quality of life, particularly with long-term practice.
Supports Baduanjin as adjunct in stable COPD rehab; leaves open confirmation in randomized trials.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) significantly impairs patients' quality of life. Recently, the traditional Chinese exercise Baduanjin has garnered attention for its potential benefits in the rehabilitation of patients during the stable phase of COPD. This study aims to review and analyze existing research on the application of Baduanjin in COPD rehabilitation to provide insights for clinical practice. Method: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in databases such as CNKI, Wanfang, and PubMed to collect studies published in recent years focusing on "Baduanjin" and "COPD stable phase rehabilitation." The collected studies were systematically reviewed and analyzed to summarize the therapeutic effects and current research status of Baduanjin in COPD rehabilitation. The analysis indicates that Baduanjin practice can: 1. Enhance exercise endurance and improve pulmonary function parameters such as FEV1/FVC. 2. Improve blood gas levels, evidenced by increased oxygen partial pressure and decreased carbon dioxide partial pressure. 3. Alleviate airway inflammation by effectively regulating sputum inflammatory markers, including IL-8, TNF-α, CRP, and neutrophils. 4. Alleviate clinical symptoms, as demonstrated by improvements in the 6-minute walk test, modified dyspnea index, and COPD assessment test scores. 5. Enhance quality of life by reducing limitations related to coughing, sputum production, and restricted activities, as reflected in scores from the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and the WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). 6. Ameliorate psychological states, with long-term Baduanjin practice alleviating anxiety and depression. 7. Notably, short-term interventions (≤ 3 months) improve exercise endurance, but their effect on pulmonary function requires further validation. Long-term interventions (> 3 months) yield more significant benefits. Baduanjin appears to positively influence pulmonary ventilation, blood gas parameters, inflammatory responses, clinical symptoms, quality of life, and psychological well-being in patients with stable-phase COPD, with prolonged practice yielding superior outcomes. However, existing studies often suffer from methodological limitations such as small sample sizes, short intervention durations, and simplistic statistical analyses. Future research should focus on large-scale, well-designed clinical trials and mechanistic studies to further elucidate the efficacy of Baduanjin in COPD rehabilitation.
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Huang et al. (2026) studied this question. Baduanjin practice significantly improves exercise endurance, pulmonary function, and quality of life in stable-phase COPD patients, with long-term interventions yielding superior outcomes.
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