Effects of a 12-week online Tai Chi intervention on gait and postural stability in individuals with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects gait and postural stability. Tai Chi (TC) is recommended for PD for management of the condition, however biomechanical understanding to its effects on gait and postural stability is limited. This study aimed to examine the effects of an online 12-week biomechanical-based TC intervention on gait and posture in people with PD. Fifteen individuals in early-stage PD were recruited (Hoehn & Yahr stages 1-2). The TC intervention program was 60 ​min session, three times weekly for 12 weeks. The pre- and post-intervention test in obstacle crossing, timed-up-and-go (TUG) test, and single leg standing (SLS) with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC) were conducted. Gait speed, crossing stride length, clearance height of the heel and toe, anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) displacement and velocity of the center of mass (COM) and separation of the COM-center of pressure (COP) were analyzed. The participants significantly improved their pre-vs. post-TC intervention performance on TUG test (p ​= ​0.002). During obstacle crossing, the participants significantly increased crossing stride length of the trailing foot, increased AP COM displacement and decreased ML COM-COP separation (p ​< ​0.05); the maximal dorsiflexion angle of the leading limb significantly increased and maximal plantarflexion angle of the trailing limb significantly decreased (p ​< ​0.05). A 12-week biomechanical-based online TC training was effective towards improvement of gait and postural stability among people in the early-stage of PD. The TC program and online training could be applied for management of PD.

Keywords

Center of mass / Tai Chi / Center of pressure / Kinematics / Obstacle crossing / Joint angles

Authors’ contributions

Dr. Li contributed to the conception and principal guidance to the study. Mr. Law contributed to the data collection and data processing. Both authors contributed to drafting of the manuscript. Both authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Submission statement

The manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Ethics approval statement

The study was approved by the human ethics committee of the University of Ottawa. The participant was a volunteer, without a monetary incentive and were informed about the use of their information. Informed consent from the participant was obtained.

Conflict of interest

Jixian Li is an editorial board member for Sports Medicine and Health Science and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

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