Health Outcomes of Two Different Tai Chi Interventions

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Hypertension, Fall

In brief

Tai Chi results in numerous health benefits but whether it can be tailored to elicit different health outcomes is not clear. Therefore, investigators compared the health benefits of two different Tai Chi interventions tailored for improvements in blood pressure (BP) (PRESSURE) or balance (BALANCE). Investigators tailored PRESSURE to emphasize breathing techniques and mental relaxation and BALANCE to emphasize movement principles that challenged balance. Participants were randomized to PRESSURE (n=12), BALANCE (n=13), or CONTROL (n=10). Tai Chi was practiced 3 sessions/week, 60 minute/session for 12 weeks. CONTROL performed normal daily activities. Investigators tested the change in cardiometabolic health, balance, and functional fitness outcomes among groups. Investigators hypothesized that PRESSURE would elicit greater BP reductions compared to BALANCE; meanwhile, BALANCE would elicit greater improvements in balance measures than PRESSURE.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04407403

Run by

University of Connecticut

People needed

42

Starts

2017-11-01

Expected to finish

2018-11-30

Last updated by the study team

2020-05-29

Who can join

Age: 50 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• The participant was enrolled in one of the three programs at Seabury including: the Seabury at Home program, the Independent Living program, and the Assisted Living program.
• The participant was 50 or older, which was the age limit to be enrolled in any Seabury programs.
• The participant was ambulatory without using an assistive device (e.g., walkers, canes, crutches).

You may not qualify if…

• 1. Older adults who enrolled in the Memory Support Assisted Living program or the Skilled Nursing program at Seabury were not invited to participate because Tai Chi practice could be too cognitively and/or physically challenging for them.
• To ensure the safety of exercise and avoid potential exercise-related cardiac events, if the participant had blood pressure (BP) be systolic BP <90 and/or systolic BP ≥160 mmHg and/or diastolic BP <60 and/or diastolic BP ≥100 mmHg during screening, this participant was excluded from further participation.
• Participants were removed from the study if they were not willing to comply with all study procedures. Participants were also removed from the study in the event of injury, illness, or other change that may influence the outcome variables being measured.

Where it is running

• Seabury — Bloomfield, Connecticut, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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