Content provided in partnership with

Health Care Industry

Effectiveness of Tai Chi on Improving Balance in Older Adults: An Evidence-based Review, The

Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, 2003 by Komagata, Sachiko, Newton, Roberta

<< Page 1 Continued from page 3. Previous | Next

Table 3 lists MR and Ql assigned by the author (SK) and MR reported by Chan and Barlett. All 3 are positively correlated to each other. The effect size d-index was calculated for 33 out of the potential 35 outcome measures (Table 4). Ross et al14 did not report the means or standard deviations, thus the dindex was not determined. The overall mean d-index was 1.99 (SD = 2.8) (Table 5). The mean d-index of measures corresponding to the static conditions, internal perturbation, and external perturbations was 0.52 (SD = 0.8), 2.48 (SD = 3.53), and 0.34 (SD = 0.39), respectively (Table 5). No statistically significant difference in the d-index occurred among the 3 outcome categories (F (2, 32) = 0.60, p>0.05). The relationship between the d-index and the Ql score has moderate negative correlation at r = - 0.52, and the relationship between the d-index and the MR score was r = - 0.28.

More Articles of Interest: Using Tai Chi as an exercise intervention for improving balance in adults...; Differences in Balance Related Measures Among Older Adults Participating in...; Tai Chi improves balance in older adults.(News)(Brief Article); Balance Abilities of Homebound Older Adults Classified as Fallers and Nonfallers; Water tai chi

DISCUSSION

The movement pattern of Tai Chi is unique among other therapeutic interventions for people with balance impairments. The movement is slow but continuous, so the individual learns how to move most effectively within the postures and forms. Tai Chi is 'posture' or 'form-oriented' so that the person learns to use his or her visual or kinesthetic frame of reference throughout the movement. Therefore, the learner's behavior emerges from a self-organizing function of various subsystems.47 It is also hypothesized that the Tai Chi movement patterns facilitate specific breathing patterns, which in turn trigger the autonomie nervous system for self-adjustment, ie, homeostatis.48 Unlike some therapeutic interventions that have little kinesthetic demands, Tai Chi is postulated to improve kinesthetic awareness. By performing slow, continuous, and fluid patterns, the individual becomes aware of his or her own postural limitations. Such kinesthetic awareness could decrease the incidence of falls.18,43 This review suggests that that activities incorporated intoTai Chi appear to be capable of favorably influencing balance. This influence does not seem to be specific to internal perturbation category as reported by Chan and Barlett.5

The majority of the articles reviewed selected a frequency of Tai Chi as once a week for approximately 1 hour each training session. Such a length of training may fail to show improvements in postural control. Many postures in Tai Chi are unintuitive at first. For example, moving the right arm forward while the right foot is in front of the left can be an awkward movement to learn unless the person is familiar with boxing or fencing. If one has difficulty with overcoming the initial awkwardness of Tai Chi postures, the learner may feel discouraged to continue. Peer and instructor encouragement is one method to facilitate individuals to learn the forms.

In addition, most of the studies reviewed here did not clearly state their confounding factors, such as gender, age, and lifestyle. GroupTai Chi sessions, rather than individual sessions, were used in most studies without addressing the potential effect of the group process or motivational factors on the outcome. Internal validity will improve by addressing these potential confounding factors. In addition, studies designed to address the participants' compliance status would improve the study's internal validity as well as the effectiveness of the program. To minimize selection bias, future studies should use randomized assignments when possible.

Health Care Industry

Effectiveness of Tai Chi on Improving Balance in Older Adults: An Evidence-based Review, The

Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, 2003 by Komagata, Sachiko, Newton, Roberta

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Health

Most Popular Articles in Health

Most Popular Publications in Health