Purpose The aim was to assess the effects of a Tai Chi–based program on health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in people with elevated blood glucose or diabetes who were not on medication for glucose control.

Method 41 participants were randomly allocated to either a Tai Chi intervention group (N = 20) or a usual medical-care control group (N = 21). The Tai Chi group involved 3 × 1.5 h supervised and group-based training sessions per week for 12 weeks. Indicators of HR-QOL were assessed by self-report survey immediately prior to and after the intervention.

Results There were significant improvements in favor of the Tai Chi group for the SF36 subscales of physical functioning (mean difference = 5.46, 95 % CI = 1.35–9.57, P < 0.05), role physical (mean difference = 18.60, 95 % CI = 2.16–35.05, P < 0.05), bodily pain (mean difference = 9.88, 95 % CI = 2.06–17.69, P < 0.05) and vitality (mean difference = 9.96, 95 % CI = 0.77–19.15, P < 0.05).

Conclusions The findings show that this Tai Chi program improved indicators of HR-QOL including physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain and vitality in people with elevated blood glucose or diabetes who were not on diabetes medication.