CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Yang Y, Verkuilen J, Grubisich S, Reed M, Rosengren
K.
The effect of a 6-month Taiji (T'ai Chi) and Qigong (Ch'i
Kung) intervention on older adults' lower body strength and balance
behaviors.
Kinesiology Department, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign yyang5@uiuc.edu
PURPOSE: To determine the effect of a 6-month
Taiji (T'ai Chi) and Qigong (Ch'i Kung) intervention on healthy older
adults' lower body strength and balance behaviors.
METHODS: Design: Randomized controlled
clinical trial with wait control and Taiji using single blind testers.
Participants: Sixty-eight healthy older adults (M= 80.2 years,
SD = 8.3). The participants were residents from the community (n=15)
and three retirement centers (n=53). Intervention: The Taiji
group trained for 1 hour/session x 3 sessions/week x 6 months. Each
one-hour session included 30 minutes of qigong (primarily sitting and
standing meditation) and 30 minutes of Taiji form practice. The curriculum
was designed and taught by a 30-year Taiji practitioner to emulate traditional
training. The control group was asked not to modify their daily activities.
Measurements: Participants were measured at baseline, two months
after initiating TQ training, and at the conclusion of the six-month
intervention. Measurements included chair stand test (CST); single leg
stance with both eyes open and closed (SLSO, SLSC); loss of balance
(LOB) during conditions 5 and 6 of sensory organization test (SOT);
Berg balance scale (BBS); and stance width in normal comfortable stance
(SW). Statistical Methods: GEE regression was used to evaluate
statistical significance of measured changes.
RESULTS: TQ training effects were observed after
two months in lower extremity strength (CST), stance width normalized
to baseline (SW), and the more challenging balance measures: single
leg stance with eyes open (SLSO) and loss of balance under combined
conditions 5 and 6 of the sensory organization test (LOB). The mean
predicted performance improvements (relative to control) and statistical
probabilities of month 2 measurements using GEE regression statistical
methods for the average aged subject (age 80 yrs) are as follows: CST
= +19%, SW = +22%, SLSO = +83%, p < 0.001, and LOB5&6_= -32% (all p's
< 0.05). The right leg stance with eyes closed was highly significant
at six months using the non-parametric Friedman test (TQ p = 0.001,
WC p = 0.90). Effects were maintained over the remaining period of the
intervention. Due to high baseline scores, no significant effects were
observed in BBS measurements.
CONCLUSIONS: A short (two month) intervention
of moderate intensity using traditional Taiji and Qigong curriculum
(i.e., including standing and sitting meditation) is effective in improving
healthy older adults' lower body strength and balance.
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