• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.334-342
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Tai Chi exercise on flexibility, balance, walking ability, muscle strength, bone mineral density, and fracture risk in institutionalized elders. Method: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a nonequivalent comparison group was utilized, and 53 older adults living in one institution were recruited and assigned to one of two groups, experimental group (18) or comparison (20). Both groups completed posttest measures at 6 months. There was a 31% rate of dropouts. Tai Chi exercise was provided twice a week for 24 weeks. Outcome measurements were conducted by a physiotherapist at a university hospital health promotion center who did not know the group assignment. Results: At 6 months, the experimental group had significantly greater grip strength(t=2.12, p=.04), back muscle strength (t=2.42, p=.02), balance (t=5.31, p<001), and flexibility (t=3.57, p<.001). They also showed significantly greater bone mineral density of lumbar spine and femur, and reduced fracture risk. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise was safely and effectively used with institutionalized elders for 6 months and significantly improved physical fitness, bone mineral density along with a reduction in fracture risk. Whether Tai Chi exercise would lead to prevention of fall episodes and fall related fractures in this population will require further study.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2007

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the effect of Tai Chi Qigong exercise program on insulin resistance and blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. Method: This was a quasi-experimental study used a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Participants included 39 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (ages between 40-70)(experimental group, 19, control group, 20). The Tai Chi Qigong exercise program consisted of 5 minute warming up, 30-minute main exercise, and 5 minute cooling down, and was conducted twice a week for 10 weeks. The outcome variables were insulin resistance (proinsulin, C-peptide, insulin, insulin sensitivity index) and blood glucose (fasting, post prandial 2hr, HbA1c). Data was analyzed using ANCOVA, with pre-test values as covariates, to examine difference between pre and post measures between the two groups. Results: The Tai Chi Qigong was effective in lowering postprandial 2hr blood glucose. Conclusion: Twice a week 10 week-Tai Chi Qigong exercise seems to be too short to improve insulin excretion or resistance, and fasting blood sugar and HbA1C in patients with type 2 DM. A Tai Chi Qigong program at least 3 times per week or longer is recommended.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Tai-Chi exercise (TCE) and resistance exercise (RE) when used as part of a community-based exercise program on improvement of physical function in elderly women with knee arthritis. Methods: Forty-seven women with knee arthritis participated in this study. They were assigned to one of two groups: the TCE group (n=22) or the RE group (n=25). Tai-Chi exercise and resistance exercise sessions were held for 1 hour per session, twice per week, for 8 consecutive weeks. At pre-treatment and post-treatment, subjects were tested using the following measurements: one-legged stand test (sec), a functional reach test (cm), a test of the strength of the knee extensor and flexor muscles, determination of the pathway of center of foot pressure and vertical ground reaction force for stance phase at pre and post treatment time points. An independent t-test and a ${\chi}^2$ were used to determine the significance of differences between group means using SPSS 12.0. Results: After 8 weeks of participation in the exercise programs, there were significant improvements for both groups in joint pain, difficulty of performing activity, muscle strength of knee extensor and flexor. Also, vertical ground reaction force increased at the loading response phase for both groups. The RE group was significantly different from TC group on the eyes-closed one-legged stand test (sec). Conclusion: Tai-Chi exercise and resistance exercise programs improve physical functioning and reduce pain and locomotion difficulties.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.130-139
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Tai Chi exercise on muscle strength, grip strength, flexibility, pain, depression and self-efficacy in patients with osteoarthritis. Method: With a quasi-experimental design, 46 persons with osteoarthritis were assigned into an experimental group (n=22) or a control group (n=24). Muscle strength, grip strength, flexibility, pain, depression and self-efficacy were measured both before and after the exercise. Data were analyzed with SPSS WIN using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANCOVA. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 68 years in the experimental group and 64 years in the control group. After controlling for age and pre-test outcome variables, muscle strength scores (F=-14.8, p= .00), grip strength scores (Rt: F=8.40, p= .01), and self-efficacy (F=47.3, p= .00) improved more in the experimental group than the control group. Joint pain scores (F=15.0, p= .00) and depression scores (F=14.7, p= .00) decreased in the experimental group. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise is likely to be an effective nursing intervention to improve muscle strength, grip strength, and self-efficacy and reduce pain and depression for patients with osteoarthritis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.345-349
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• 2010

Good health-related quality of life is regarded as the goal of elderly residential care. Treatment for breast cancer produces side effects that diminish functional capacity and quality of life among survivors. Tai-Chi exercise offers the benefits of fitness and health. Tai-chi has been claimed to generate beneficial effects with respect to a wide range of diseases. The object of this research is to evaluate the effects of tai chi exercise on shoulder joint movement and cardiovascular function in elderly breast cancer patients. The subjects were 40 patients residing in B metropolitan city, who had undergone surgery for breast cancer within 2 months. They underwent post-operative radiotherapy and an anti-cancer chemical treatment. They practiced tai-chi exercise for 60 min a day, four times a week for 12 weeks under the direction of a special tai-chi instructor. Shoulder joint movement and heart rate, were measured before and after the experiment. The results were as follows; Shoulder joint movement, including flexion, extention, adduction and abduction, significantly increased (p<0.05) after treatment, and heart rates significantly decreased after treatment (p<0.05). From the results, Tai-Chi exercise was shown to be extremely effective in improving shoulder joint movement and heart rate in elderly breast cancer patients. Further study is needed in this area.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.152-160
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of the Tai Chi exercise on metabolic syndrome and health-related quality of life in middle-aged women. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used. Subjects were sixty middle-aged women with metabolic syndrome. All of the subjects were met the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III). The subjects were divided into the experiment group (n=33) trained the Tai Chi for 12 weeks and the control group (n=27). Metabolic syndrome risk factors including blood pressure, waist circumference, glucose, triglyceride (TG), and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured before and after the 12-week period. Euro Quality of Life Questionnaire 5-Dimensional Classification (EQ-5D) was used to evaluate the health-related quality of life. Results: The experiment group showed significant decreases in diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, glucose, and TG; and increase in HDL-C compared to the control group. For the health-related quality of life evaluation, the experiment group showed significant improvement more than the control group. Conclusion: The Tai Chi exercise may be effective intervention in preventing cardiovascular disease caused by metabolic syndrome in middle-aged women.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.278-285
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was performed to verify the effect of Tai Chi exercise on patients with rheumatoid arthritis particularly their level of pain, fatigue, sense of balance and daily lift performance(ADL). Method: It employed a non-equivalent control group pre- and post-test design. The research instruments used in this study were pain, fatigue, sense of balance and ADL. Thirty-two patients in the experimental group carried out 50 minutes of Tai Chi exercise for 12 weeks, and 29 patients in the control group did not. Before and after the experiment, both groups were tested for pain, fatigue, sense of balance and ADL. Collected data were processed using the SPSS/WIN 10.0 program analyzed by the frequency, percentage, $x^2-test$, and t-test. Results: Pain and fatigue significantly decreased in the experimental group. However the improvement in ADL of the rheumatoid arthritis patients was not statistically significant but their sense of balance was enhanced significantly. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise is an effective nursing intervention that can be used for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1575-1580
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• 2009

Tai Chi is a slow and gentle exercise which is suitable for obese women with chronic diseases. Tai Chi can improve the health of a senior without exacerbating existing impairments, including obese patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of different types of Tai Chi exercise on blood variables (glucose, cholesterol, TG, HDL, LDL, cortisol) and physical fitness (muscle strength, flexibility, muscle endurance, agility, balance). Thirty obese women were recruited from a public health center. They were divided into Yang style (YS: n=15) and 12 (12KS: n=15). The Tai Chi exercise group participated in a training program for 12 weeks (3times/week). There was significant improvement in muscle strength, flexibility, and muscle endurance in both groups. Agility was significantly increased in YS, more than in 12KS. However, there was no improvement in balance in both groups. There was significant improvement in cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and cortisol in both groups. However there was no improvement in blood glucose levels in either group. From the results, there was no significant difference in either Tai Chi exercises. The Tai Chi exercise program was effective in improving cholesterol related variables and physical fitness, except balance, in both groups. Further study is needed in this area.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.17-30
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was to analyse the reasons for the early termination of our clinical trials that were to know the influences of Tai-chi on non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Methods : We stopped the primary study of Tai-chi to observe the changes of non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. So we carried out the survey to our participants of clinical trials. We conducted the survey about the patient's characteristics of usual exercise, experience of Tai-chi, appropriate time allocation, difficulties of proceeding the program and patient's opinion for the improvement of education. And the 4 questions about the contributiveness of Tai-chi for the Parkinson's disease, usability of supplied references, difficulties and time allocation of education were using the questionaries form of 5-point scale(Likert scale). Results : The results of survey showed that the benefits of Tai-chi program for the improvement of symptoms was $3.15{\pm}0.89$ and difficulty of lecture was $3.76{\pm}1.09$. 41% of participants answered that the motions of the Tai-chi is difficult to follow and 17% of participants felt the imbalance during the motion of Tai-chi. Conclusions : Participants replied that the Tai-chi is hard for the patients of Parkinson's disease and the time for the education was too short to keep doing exercise. Thus we have plan to educate the patients of Parkinson's disease with Tai-chi program consists of easier motion by developing ourselves or searching previous studies.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.55-66
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• 2018

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common chronic degenerative disease and prevalent among women in rural area. A variety of self-management programs for arthritis patients have been developed and administered, however the effectiveness and adherence to the program including arthritis exercise are found to be low. The purpose of this study is to design intervention Arthritis Self-Management Program with Tai Chi (ASMP-TC) through identifying and analyzing attributes influencing adherence exercise behavior in Korean older adult women with arthritis in rural area. For this, the existing and relevant evidence on arthritis self-management including exercise intervention were investigated, and then this study describes well-designed arthritis self-management program to provide the credibility and validity necessary for its interventions. In addition, this study try to propose a self-management program model of Tai Chi exercise for rural older adults to improve adherence based on the primary health care facility, which is vulnerable area in Korea.