Traditional Chinese exercises significantly improve motor function and balance in stroke survivors across various stagesTraditional Chinese Exercises Show Promise for Stroke Recovery

IntroductionStroke survivors frequently present with varying degrees of sensory, cognitive, language, and motor impairments. Traditional Chinese exercises have been widely used as adjunctive rehabilitation therapies because they combine low-to-moderate intensity physical training, balance practice, proprioceptive stimulation, motor relearning, respiratory regulation, and cognitive engagement. However, intervention protocols and outcome measures vary substantially across trials, and direct head-to-head comparisons among Tai Chi, Baduanjin, Wuqinxi, Yijinjing, and standard of care remain scarce. This network meta-analysis therefore compared the relative effectiveness of different traditional Chinese exercise modalities for improving post-stroke motor outcomes.MethodsWe systematically searched Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang Data from database inception to January 2026 for RCTs evaluating traditional Chinese exercises for post-stroke motor dysfunction. Eligible participants were adults with clinically diagnosed ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke in the acute, subacute, or chronic stage. The primary outcomes were upper- and lower-extremity motor function assessed using the FMA-UE and FMA-LE. Secondary outcomes were balance function assessed using the BBS and activities of daily living assessed using the BI. Risk of bias was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2). A Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed, and intervention rankings were estimated using the SUCRA.ResultsFifty RCTs involving 3,718 participants were included. Compared with standard of care, Tai Chi and Wuqinxi showed statistically significant improvements in FMA-UE scores, whereas Baduanjin, Tai Chi, and Wuqinxi improved FMA-LE scores. All four exercise modalities were associated with significant improvements in BBS and BI scores. Ranking results suggested that Tai Chi had the highest probability of improving FMA-UE, Wuqinxi ranked highest for FMA-LE, Yijinjing ranked highest for BBS, and Baduanjin ranked highest for BI.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261323853, CRD420261323853.