Statistical concerns about the study: hypoglycemic and antioxidant effect of Tai chi exercise training in older adults with metabolic syndrome

Abstract

Tuğba Aydin,1 Meryem Merve Oren,2 Gulistan Bahat3 1Istanbul Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; 2Department of Public Health, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul, TurkeyIn their study, Mendoza-Núñez et al studied the effect of Tai chi (TC) exercise on oxidative stress (OxS) in elderly with metabolic syndrome (MetS), with a painstaking study protocol.1 They included a total of 85 older sedentary adults with MetS. The control group did not participate in physical exercise (n=37), and the experimental group was enrolled in a TC exercise training program (n=48). They measured in both groups, in the pre- and post intervention periods, the cardiovascular parameters, OxS markers and inflamma¬tion markers. They concluded that a statistically significant decrease in HbA1c and a decrease in the OxS score were observed in the TC group compared with the control group. They did not observe changes in the cardiovascular parameters.View the original paper by Mendoza-Núñez and colleagues. 

Keywords

• Statistical concern
• Chisquare test
• McNemar test