{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T12:29:59Z","timestamp":1786364999538,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Baduanjin, a traditional mind\u2013body exercise, may provide benefits for both physical and psychological health among older adults. The present study systematically evaluated its effects on sleep quality, depressive symptoms, quality of life, body composition, and handgrip strength.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n A systematic search of seven databases was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials investigating Baduanjin among adults aged 60\u202fyears or older published before 3 April 2026. Primary outcomes included sleep quality, depressive symptoms, quality of life, body composition, and handgrip strength. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2.0) was used to evaluate the quality of the study. Standardized mean differences (\n SMDs<\/jats:italic>\n ) or mean differences (\n MDs<\/jats:italic>\n ) with 95% confidence intervals (\n CIs<\/jats:italic>\n ) were used in random-effects meta-analyses. The I\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n statistic was used to measure between-study heterogeneity, while Egger\u2019s test and funnel plots were used to evaluate publication bias. R (version 4.4.2) was used for all analyses.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Eighteen randomized controlled trials comprising 1,527 participants were included in the final analysis. Pooled analyses showed that Baduanjin significantly improved sleep quality (\n MD<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f\u22122.81, 95%\n CI<\/jats:italic>\n : \u22123.38 to \u22122.24,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.001) and reduced depressive symptoms (\n SMD<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f\u22120.88, 95%\n CI<\/jats:italic>\n : \u22121.31 to \u22120.45,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.001). Significant improvements were also observed in quality of life (\n SMD<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.73, 95%\n CI<\/jats:italic>\n : 0.29\u20131.18,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n =\u202f0.001), handgrip strength (\n MD<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f2.11, 95%\n CI<\/jats:italic>\n : 1.57\u20132.64,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n &lt;\u202f0.001), and body composition, including reductions in body mass index, waist circumference, and hip circumference.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n Baduanjin, a traditional mind\u2013body exercise, may improve sleep quality, depressive symptoms, quality of life, body composition, and handgrip strength among older adults. Nevertheless, additional high-quality randomized controlled trials are warranted because of methodological limitations and heterogeneity across studies.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Systematic review registration<\/jats:title>\n \n https:\/\/www.crd.york.ac.uk\/PROSPERO\/view\/CRD420261377240<\/jats:ext-link>\n , identifier PROSPERO (CRD420261377240).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1882039","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T04:20:54Z","timestamp":1785385254000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Baduanjin exercise on sleep quality, depressive symptoms, quality of life, and body composition in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Le","family":"Zhao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, Universiti Malaya","place":["Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mei-Chan","family":"Chong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Nursing and Education, MAHSA University","place":["Jenjarom, Selangor, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wan Ling","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, Universiti Malaya","place":["Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weixia","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, School of Medicine, Quzhou College of Technology","place":["Quzhou, Zhejiang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nan","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, Universiti Malaya","place":["Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Lou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, Universiti Malaya","place":["Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(14)61347-7","article-title":"The burden of disease in older people and implications for health policy and practice","volume":"385","author":"Prince","year":"2015","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1175898","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2023.1175898","article-title":"Editorial: aging and chronic disease: public health challenge and education reform","volume":"11","author":"Sun","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"643","DOI":"10.1007\/s11920-023-01455-3","article-title":"Sleep and depression in older adults: a narrative review","volume":"25","author":"Nielson","year":"2023","journal-title":"Curr Psychiatry Rep"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"k4922","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.k4922","article-title":"Depression in older adults","volume":"363","author":"Wilkinson","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1007\/s41999-021-00481-9","article-title":"Adverse drug reactions in older adults: a narrative review of the literature","volume":"12","author":"Zazzara","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur Geriatr Med"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291714000129","article-title":"What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? 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