We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
The effects of Tai Chi training on physical fitness, perceived health, and blood pressure in elderly Vietnamese.
- Authors
Nguyen, Manh Hung; Kruse, Andreas
- Abstract
Objective: Evaluating the effects of Tai Chi exercise on physical fitness, blood pressure, and perceived health in community-dwelling elderly. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Setting: Community-dwelling elderly in Vinh city, Vietnam. Participants: Ninety-six community-dwelling participants aged 60 to 79 years (68.9 ± 5.1 years) were recruited. Intervention: Subjects were divided randomly into two groups: Tai Chi and Control groups. Participants in the Tai Chi group (aged 69.02 ± 5.16 years) attended a 60-minute Tai Chi practice session twice a week for 6 months. The session consisted of a 15-minute warm-up and a 15-minute cool-down period. The Control group (aged 68.72 ± 4.94 years) maintained routine daily activities. Outcome measures: The Senior Fitness Test and Short-Form 36® (SF-36®) are primary outcome measures. Results: After 24 weeks of the Tai Chi training program, the intervention group showed significant decrease in systole of 12 mmHg and heart rate 6.46 bpm. Body mass index and waist-hip ratio were also reduced by 1.23 and 0.04, respectively. The Senior Fitness Test and SF-36 showed significant improvement. Conclusion: In this randomized controlled trial study, Tai Chi is beneficial to improve systole blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, perceived health, and physical fitness. Assessment of the effects of Tai Chi may be focused more on chronic disease with a long-term training program in the future
- Subjects
TAI chi; EXERCISE for older people; PHYSICAL fitness; BLOOD pressure; OLD age
- Publication
Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 2012, Vol 3, p7
- ISSN
1179-1543
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2147/oajsm.s27329