Feasibility of a Tai Chi with Thera-Band Training Program: A Pilot Study

Author: Meiling Qi1,2, Wendy Moyle2,3, Cindy Jones2,4, Benjamin Weeks2,5
Affiliation:
1 School of Nursing, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
2 Nathan Campus, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
3 Nathan Campus, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
4 Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4226, Australia.
5 Gold Coast Campus, School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia.
Conference/Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health
Date published: 2020 Nov 16
Other: Volume ID: 17 , Issue ID: 22 , Pages: E8462 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228462. , Word Count: 253


Tai Chi, combined with Thera-band (TCTB) exercise may be associated with an improvement in health where it increases physical fitness, improves psychological well-being, and decreases pain. This paper aimed to determine the feasibility of TCTB exercise in older sedentary office workers. Forty office workers aged over 55 years participated in a pilot randomized controlled trial (i.e., 12-week TCTB exercise or Tai Chi exercise only). Feasibility of the TCTB exercise approach was ascertained through the recruitment and enrolment rate, acceptability of the study intervention by participants including retention and adherence rates, participants' learning process, the appropriateness of data collection as well as the participants' evaluation of the intervention. Recruitment took longer than planned, with a low recruitment rate of 2.0% (42/2020), but a high enrolment rate of 95.2% (40/42). Thirty-one participants (i.e., 77.5%) completed the intervention. Of those who completed the trial, the overall average attendance was reported as 85.2%; 84.7% in the TCTB group and 85.7% in the Tai Chi only group. A total of 58.3% of participants (n = 21) could independently practice the TCTB or Tai Chi exercise motions at the end of the learning stage. There were no missing data except for the nine participants who withdrew during the intervention. No adverse events or effects were reported, and all participants were satisfied with the 12-week exercise intervention. Results support the feasibility of a large-scale randomized controlled trial to explore the efficacy of a TCTB program for improving health in older sedentary office workers.

Keywords: Tai Chi; feasibility; older sedentary office workers; physical fitness; psychological well-being; strength training.

PMID: 33207580 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17228462

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