Acta Gymnica 2015, 45(2):77-84 | DOI: 10.5507/ag.2015.014

The influence of a ten week Tai Chi program with seniors

Donald N. Roberson Jr.1, Shu-Yi Wang2, Erik Sigmund1, Hana Valkova3
1 Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic
2 Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
3 Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Background: Physical activity can help to restore physical functioning loss due to disuse and chronic illness as well as aging.

Objective: There were two main aims in this study. (1) To assess the impact of a brief 10-week Tai Chi program on health-related quality of life, functional mobility, and balance performance; (2) To examine the feasibility of a ten week Tai Chi exercise program in a retirement center.

Methods: Fifteen healthy voluntary elder residents (aged 76.8 ± 9.3 years) took place in this study. The participants were tested with the Timed Up-and-Go, One-Leg Stance, Functional Reach as well as self-reported Health Related Quality of Life (EQ-5D). The duration of this Tai Chi program was 10 weeks, with two 1 hour sessions on Monday and Wednesday mornings 9 a.m., resulting in a total of 20 hours of Tai Chi class.

Results: As a result of the pre and post-test concerning the Health Related Quality of Life - there was higher amount of self-care, more activities, less pain and less anxiety/depression after the ten week Tai Chi program. Comparing the pre and post-intervention Health Related Quality of Life results, significant improvements were observed for anxiety/depression and the subjective health-related quality of life scale (EQ-VAS) (p < .05). Further analysis showed that the training-induced changes in Timed Up-and-Go as well as One-Leg Stance test following the intervention were significant (p < .05).

Conclusions: A 10-week Tai Chi program had beneficial effects on subjective health-related quality of life, functional mobility, and balance performance among the participants of this study.

Keywords: physical activity, older adults, quality of life, functional mobility, balance

Accepted: May 29, 2015; Prepublished online: June 24, 2015; Published: June 30, 2015  Show citation

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Roberson, D.N., Wang, S., Sigmund, E., & Valkova, H. (2015). The influence of a ten week Tai Chi program with seniors. Acta Gymnica, 45(2), 77-84. doi: 10.5507/ag.2015.014
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