STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the efficacy of a novel behavioral intervention, Tai Chi Chih, to promote sleep quality in older adults with moderate sleep complaints. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial with 16 weeks of teaching followed by practice and assessment 9 weeks later. The main outcome measure was sleep quality, as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). SETTING Gener...

Objective. To investigate the effects of sitting Tai Chi on muscle strength, balance control, and quality of life (QOL) among survivors with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Methods. Eleven SCI survivors participated in the sitting Tai Chi training (90 minutes/session, 2 times/week for 12 weeks) and eight SCI survivors acted as controls. Dynamic sitting balance was evaluated using limits of stabilit...

This study examined the effects of Tai Chi, a low-impact mind-body movement therapy, on severity of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in centrally obese people with elevated depression symptoms. In total, 213 participants were randomized to a 24-week Tai Chi intervention program or a wait-list control group. Assessments were conducted at baseline and 12 and 24 weeks. Outcomes were severi...

OBJECTIVES To determine the effectiveness of a 16-week community-based tai chi program in reducing falls and improving balance in people aged 60 and older. DESIGN Randomized, controlled trial with waiting list control group. SETTING Community in Sydney, Australia. PARTICIPANTS Seven hundred two relatively healthy community-dwelling people aged 60 and older (mean age 69). INTERVENTION Si...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a 6-week Tai Chi exercise program on reducing blood pressure for hypertensive patients. METHOD A non-equivalent pretest-posttest experimental design was used. Participants were recruited from the Community Health Center in Busan, Korea. Twenty-eight hypertensive patients participated in this study. Among them, fourteen were in ...

BACKGROUND Falls are a significant public health problem. Thirty to fifty percent of the elderly of 65 years and older fall each year. Falls are the most common type of accident in this age group and can result in fractures and subsequent disabilities, increased fear of falling, social isolation, decreased mobility, and even an increased mortality. Several forms of exercise have been associated...

BACKGROUND Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and its associated lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) occur very commonly in older men. BPH and LUTS cause substantial physical and psychological impairment that could seriously affect the quality of late life and greatly cost the health-care systems. Current surgical and pharmacological therapies are expensive, may not effectively improve prostate...

PURPOSE Previous long-term observational studies found that Tai Chi practitioners had better knee-joint proprioceptive acuity versus controls in an older population. We evaluated the effects of Tai Chi for knee-joint proprioception in knee osteoarthritis (OA) in a randomized controlled trial. METHODS We randomized 40 eligible individuals (age > 55, BMI ≤ 40 kg/m2 with knee pain on most days o...

CONTEXT Arthralgia is common and debilitating for a significant proportion of breast cancer survivors (BCSs) and leads to poor adherence to aromatase inhibitors (AIs). Despite increased recognition of the negative impact of arthralgia on function and the poor adherence that results, very few interventions have been developed to target this side effect. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine ...

BACKGROUND Today, despite remarkable advances in the care of hemodialysis patients, the quality of life (QOL) for these patients is still unsatisfactory. Although previous reports confirmed the effect of exercise on the well-being of renal patients, less than 50% of end-stage kidney patients participate in a regular sports program. Tai chi is a slow and gentle exercise that is suitable for peop...