Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Physical Fitness and Quality of Life in Elderly Women

Park, Jung Ah; Kim, Sook Young

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was performed to investigate the effects of Tai Chi exercise on physical fitness and quality of life (QOL) in elderly women.
METHODS
This study was designed as a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group pre-post test design. The subjects were elderly women over 60 years old who enrolled senior citizen centers and elderly welfare center. Thirty-three people were conveniently assigned to an experimental group (n=15) or a control group (n=18). The data were collected from September 2009 to May 2010. The experimental group was trained Tai Chi exercise for 8 weeks (one hour Tai Chi classes twice a week and once a week by themselves at home). Data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test, chi2-test and independent t-test.
RESULTS
The experimental group experienced significant improvements in flexibility. The experimental group experienced significant improvements in physical component summary (p=.017) and mental component summary (p=.027) of QOL.
CONCLUSION
Tai Chi exercise can be used as a nursing intervention for improvement of physical fitness and QOL in elderly women.