Tai Chi for spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity in elderly female patients with non-specific low back pain: A six-week randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Non-specific low back pain (NS-LBP) is a serious public health problem. Tai Chi is promising in reducing the risk of falls and alleviating symptoms in this population.

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the effect of Tai Chi on gait and dynamic balance in elderly women with NS-LBP.

METHODS:

20 women (age $>$ 65 yr.) with NS-LBP were randomly assigned to a Tai Chi group ( $n=$ 10) or a control group ( $n=$ 10). The Tai Chi group practiced Tai Chi exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Each session lasted 60 minutes. Pain, spatiotemporal gait features and dynamic balancing capacity were assessed at 0 and 6 weeks.

RESULTS:

Compared to the control group at 6 weeks, the Tai Chi group had a significant decrease in VAS ( $p=$ 0.027) and stride width ( $p=$ 0.019), significant improvement in gait velocity, stride length ( $p<$ 0.001). Regarding dynamic balance capacity, the Tai Chi group had significant improvements in anterior (Left: $p=$ 0.001; Right: $p=$ 0.038), postero-lateral (Left: $p<$ 0.001; Right: $p=$ 0.038), and postero-medial (Left: $p=$ 0.015; Right: $p=$ 0.018).

CONCLUSION:

6-week Tai Chi can relieve pain and improve gait and dynamic balance in elderly women with NS-LBP, which suggests Tai Chi could be a promising rehabilitation intervention to reduce the risk of falls in this population.