Improvement In Balance, Strength and Flexibility after 12 Weeks Of Tai Chi Exercise In Ethnic Chinese Adults With Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

Taylor-Piliae R E//Haskell WL//Stotts NA//Sivarajan Froelicher E

Context: Declines in physical performance are associated with
aging and chronic health conditions. Appropriate physical activity interventions can reverse functional limitations and help maintain independent living. Tai chi is a popular form of exercise in China among older adults.

Objective: To determine whether tai chi improves balance, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility over time.

Design: Repeated measures intervention; data collected at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks.
Setting: Community center in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Participants: Thirty-nine Chinese adults with at least 1 cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor.

Interventions: A 60-minute tai chi exercise class 3 times per week for 12 weeks.
Main Outcome Measures: A battery of physical fitness measures specifically developed for older adults assessed balance, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility.

Results: Subjects were 65.7 (±8.3) years old, Cantonese-speaking (97%) immigrants, with 12 years or less of formal education (87%) and very low income (67%). Reported CVD risk factors were hypertension (92%), hypercholesteremia (49%), and diabetes (21%) and 1 current smoker. Subjects were below the 50th percentile of fitness at baseline compared to age- and gender-specific normative US data. Statistically significant improvements were observed in all balance, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility measures after 6 weeks, and they increased further after 12 weeks.

Conclusions: Tai chi is a potent intervention that improved balance, upper- and lower-body muscular strength and endurance, and upper- and lower-body flexibility in these older Chinese adults. These findings provide important information for future community-based tai chi exercise programs and support current public health initiatives to reduce disability from chronic health conditions and enhance physical function in older adults.