Hosseini Lida, Kargozar Elham, Sharifi Farshad, Negarandeh Reza, Memari Amir-Hossein, Navab Elham
School of Nursing & Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Exerc Rehabil. 2018 Dec 27;14(6):1024-1031. doi: 10.12965/jer.1836488.244. eCollection 2018 Dec.
Fear of falling and balance impairment are prevalent in older adults and cause major morbidities for this population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Tai Chi Chuan on balance and fear of falling in community-dwelling older adults. This study was a single-blind randomized control trial. Sixty older adults were randomly allocated into two groups using a 4-cell random block design. The participants of intervention group were trained in Tai Chi Chuan for eight weeks, twice a week, and 55 min in each session. Balance and fear of falling were assessed by Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Tinetti test and Falls Efficacy Scale International in baseline and after 8 weeks. After eight weeks of intervention, the mean scores of the TUG and Tinetti scales in the intervention group were improved significantly compared to the baseline and the control group (<0.001). Moreover, the intervention group showed a significant reduction in fear of falling scores (<0.001), while those in the control group remained unchanged. Tai Chi Chuan effectively improves the balance and fear of falling and could be considered as a practical and useful method for fall prevention in community-dwelling older adults.
害怕跌倒和平衡功能受损在老年人中普遍存在，并给该人群带来了主要疾病。本研究的目的是评估太极拳对社区居住老年人平衡能力和害怕跌倒的影响。本研究是一项单盲随机对照试验。采用4单元随机区组设计将60名老年人随机分为两组。干预组的参与者接受了为期八周的太极拳训练，每周两次，每次55分钟。在基线和8周后，通过计时起立行走测试（TUG）、Tinetti测试和国际跌倒效能量表评估平衡能力和害怕跌倒的情况。经过八周的干预，与基线和对照组相比，干预组的TUG和Tinetti量表的平均得分显著提高（<0.001）。此外，干预组害怕跌倒的得分显著降低（<0.001），而对照组的得分保持不变。太极拳能有效改善平衡能力和害怕跌倒的情况，可被视为社区居住老年人预防跌倒的一种实用且有效的方法。
