ReviewFrontiers in aging2026
Effects of mind-body exercise on balance function in pre-frail and frail older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Frontiers in aging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Frailty and pre-frailty are common geriatric conditions associated with reduced physiological reserve and a higher risk of falls. Mind-body exercises such as Tai Chi, Baduanjin, and Yoga are widely recommended as low-intensity interventions, while their specific effects on different aspects of balance remain unclear. Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of mind-body exercise on overall, dynamic, and static balance in pre-frail and frail older adults and to examine whether frailty stage and exercise characteristics influence outcomes. Methods: Our literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP Databases up to March 2026. Randomized controlled trials comparing mind-body exercise with usual care, health education, or no intervention in pre-frail or frail older adults were included. Pooled effect sizes were calculated as standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using random-effects models. Prespecified subgroup analyses were performed according to frailty stage, exercise frequency, session duration, and intervention length. Results: Ten RCTs with 12 comparisons were included. Mind-body exercise showed significant improvements in overall balance (SMD = 0.54, 95% CI 0.17-0.91), dynamic balance (SMD = -1.08, 95% CI -1.41 to -0.76), and static balance (SMD = 1.36, 95% CI 0.43-2.30). Exploratory subgroup analyses suggested that interventions delivered 2-4 times weekly, lasting 31-60 min per session, and continuing for at least 13 weeks were associated with relatively more consistent effects; however, these findings should be interpreted cautiously because they were derived from indirect subgroup comparisons rather than formal dose-response analyses. Conclusion: Mind-body exercise appears to be an effective and practical strategy for improving balance in pre-frail and frail older adults, particularly when implemented early in the frailty trajectory.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.