How traditional Chinese exercise (Daoyin) can help COVID-19 patients relieve psychological symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe mental health issues of individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are currently widespread. Traditional Chinese exercise (Daoyin) plays an important role in relieving patients’ psychological problems. This study aims to assess the efficacy of Daoyin in mitigating mental health issues among individuals diagnosed with COVID-19.MethodsPubMed, the Cochrane library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP database, and SinoMed were searched from their inception to October 2023. Two researchers independently selected the eligible studies. The analysis and presentation of the findings were conducted using Review Manager 5.2 software. The data were analyzed using mean difference (MD), inverse variance, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsA total of 12 studies (N = 1291) were included in this study. The results showed that Daoyin can significantly reduce the scores of the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS: MD = −13.03, 95% CI −19.56 to −6.49, P