Background

A fall would impact elderly population’s quality of life, which associate with diminished physical and psychological function, and can even be life-threatening. Tai Chi has been used to improve age-related postural instability in locomotion. However, it does not fully explain the mechanism of a lower risk of falling among the Tai Chi population compared to other healthy older adults.

Research question

The maintenance of postural stability is more complicated than minimizing postural movements. Postural time to contact is an important temporal measure of postural stability under fitting tasks, which might further clarify the benefits of long term Tai Chi exercise.

Methods

Participants were required to fit a block (90 × 90 mm) through two different openings (130 × 130 mm and 100 × 100 mm) at two different distances (arm’s length or 130 % of arm’s length). Kistler forceplate and Vicon system were used to collect center of pressure and kinematic data, respectively. Postural time to contact was used to assess instantaneous perturbation for postural system.

Results

Tai Chi group exhibited significant longer postural time to contact in quiet standing and shorter postural time to contact in fitting tasks, expecting for close-small condition, compared to the brisk walking and sedentary groups (p < .05). In addition, both large and small opening condition, Tai Chi group showed a shorter postural time to contact than brisk walking and sedentary groups (p < .0001).

Significance

Long term Tai Chi exercise would promote the regulation of posture and decrease the postural constrain to increase the overall stability when performing fitting tasks. Therefore, Tai Chi exercise can be considered as a feasible method to enhance postural control and stability in older adult.

中文翻译：

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太极运动对老年人手动健身任务中姿势接触时间的影响。

背景

下降会影响老年人口的生活质量，这会降低身体和心理功能，甚至可能危及生命。太极拳已被用来改善与年龄有关的运动姿势不稳。但是，它并不能完全解释与其他健康的老年人相比，太极人群中跌倒风险较低的机理。

研究问题

保持姿势稳定性比使姿势运动最小化更为复杂。体位接触时间是在健身任务下体位稳定的重要时间量度，这可能会进一步阐明长期太极拳运动的益处。

方法

要求参与者通过两个不同的距离（臂长或臂长的130％）通过两个不同的开口（130×130 mm和100×100 mm）安装一个块体（90×90 mm）。使用奇石乐测力板和Vicon系统分别收集压力中心和运动学数据。接触姿势的时间用于评估姿势系统的瞬时扰动。

结果

与快走和久坐的组相比，太极拳组在安静站立时接触姿势的时间显着更长，而在健身任务中接触姿势的时间则显着缩短，这与轻快行走和久坐的组相比更是如此（p <.05）。另外，无论大小开放，太极拳组的姿势时间都比快走和久坐的组要短（p <.0001）。

意义

长期的太极拳锻炼将促进姿势的调节并减少姿势约束，从而在执行合身任务时增加整体稳定性。因此，太极运动可以被认为是增强老年人姿势控制和稳定性的可行方法。