Tai Chi for spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity in elderly female patients with non-specific low back pain: A six-week randomized controlled trial

Author: Zhi-Wei Yan1, Zhen Yang2, Jinghui Yang3, Ya-Feng Chen4, Xue-Bin Zhang1, Cheng-Lin Song1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Sports Rehabilitation, College of Human Kinesiology, Shenyang Sport University, Liaoning, China. <sup>2</sup> Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. <sup>3</sup> Department of Physical Therapy, New York University, New York, NY, USA. <sup>4</sup> Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Conference/Journal: J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil
Date published: 2022 May 13
Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.3233/BMR-210247. , Word Count: 209

Background:
Non-specific low back pain (NS-LBP) is a serious public health problem. Tai Chi is promising in reducing the risk of falls and alleviating symptoms in this population.

Objective:
To investigate the effect of Tai Chi on gait and dynamic balance in elderly women with NS-LBP.

Methods:
20 women (age > 65 yr.) with NS-LBP were randomly assigned to a Tai Chi group (n= 10) or a control group (n= 10). The Tai Chi group practiced Tai Chi exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Each session lasted 60 minutes. Pain, spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity were assessed at 0 and 6 weeks.

Results:
Compared to the control group at 6 weeks, the Tai Chi group had a significant decrease in VAS (p= 0.027) and stride width (p= 0.019), significant improvement in gait velocity, stride length (p< 0.001). Regarding dynamic balance capacity, the Tai Chi group had significant improvements in anterior (Left: p= 0.001; Right: p= 0.038), postero-lateral (Left: p< 0.001; Right: p= 0.038), and postero-medial (Left: p= 0.015; Right: p= 0.018).

Conclusion:
6-week Tai Chi can relieve pain and improve gait and dynamic balance in elderly women with NS-LBP, which suggests Tai Chi could be a promising rehabilitation intervention to reduce the risk of falls in this population.

Keywords: Low back pain; Tai Ji; accidental falls; gait; postural balance.

PMID: 35599469 DOI: 10.3233/BMR-210247