Functional outcomes of Tai Chi exercise prescription in women with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) is the most common type of knee joint injury and also a risk factor for multiple health consequences and is prevalent among older women. The updated clinical guidelines for KOA treatment by the American Rheumatism Association recommend Tai Chi exercise. However, a literature review outlined limitations in Tai Chi intervention implementations. This study aimed to address some of the gaps. This study selected thirty female patients to participate in Tai Chi exercises and undergo relevant tests. The subjects were randomly assigned to Tai Chi or education groups. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare the difference in health indicators between the two groups after the intervention. The difference-in-differences (DID) regression was performed to assess the difference in the health outcomes between the two groups at baseline and follow-up and the difference in the differences. After the completion of the intervention, the Tai Chi group reported significantly improved KOA symptoms, physical fitness, and health status indicators than the control group. Specifically, the group differences were significantly larger at the baseline than at the follow-up. Our findings provide compelling evidence of the effects of the innovative Tai Chi exercise prescription specifically designed for KOA patients. The empirical evidence on its effectiveness in alleviating KOA symptoms and improving the overall health of middle-aged and elderly women with KOA suggested that Tai Chi intervention exercise has huge prospects for integration in KOA rehabilitation therapy.

Keywords

Tai Chi / KOA / Intervention / Exercise prescription

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [2018YFC2000603].

Ethical approval statement

Informed consent was obtained from each participate, and the study was reviewed by the author's institution and received approval to implement the study and include any institutional approval numbers (IRB approval number: 20190804) given by the institution review committee.

Submission statement

Authors declare that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out. If accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Authors' contribution

GC, DW, and NK contributed to the conception of the study; DW, ZZ, and DM performed the experiment; NK, YW, and CG contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation; GC, and NMH provided constructive comments for results interpretation and discussions.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no direct or indirect interests that are in direct conflict with the conduction of the study.

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