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Intense tai chi exercise training and fall occurrences in older, transitionally frail adults: a randomized,
Steven L Wolf1, Richard W Sattin, Michael Kutner
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Objectives:
To determine whether an intense tai chi (TC) exercise program could reduce the risk of falls more than a wellness education (WE) program in older adults meeting criteria for transitioning to frailty.
Design:
Randomized, controlled trial of 48 weeks duration.
Setting:
Twenty congregate living facilities in the greater Atlanta area.
Participants:
Sample of 291 women and 20 men aged 70 to 97.
Measurements:
Demographics, time to first fall and all subsequent falls, functional measures, Sickness Impact Profile, Centers for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, Falls Efficacy Scales, and adherence to interventions.
Results:
The risk ratio (RR) of falling was not statistically different in the TC group and the WE group (RR=0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.52-1.08), P=.13). Over the 48 weeks of intervention, 46% (n=132) of the participants did not fall; the percentage of participants that fell at least once was 47.6% for the TC group and 60.3% for the WE group.
Conclusion:
TC did not reduce the RR of falling in transitionally frail, older adults, but the direction of effect observed in this study, together with positive findings seen previously in more-robust older adults, suggests that TC may be clinically important and should be evaluated further in this high-risk population.
