Abstract
To compare the performance of older experienced Tai Chi practitioners and healthy controls in dual-task versus single-task paradigms, namely stepping down with and without performing an auditory response task, a cross-sectional study was conducted in the Center for East-meets-West in Rehabilitation Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Twenty-eight Tai Chi practitioners (73.6 ± 4.2 years) and 30 healthy control subjects (72.4 ± 6.1 years) were recruited. Participants were asked to step down from a 19-cm-high platform and maintain a single-leg stance for 10 s with and without a concurrent cognitive task. The cognitive task was an auditory Stroop test in which the participants were required to respond to different tones of voices regardless of their word meanings. Postural stability after stepping down under single- and dual-task paradigms, in terms of excursion of the subject's center of pressure (COP) and cognitive performance, was measured for comparison between the two groups. Our findings demonstrated significant between-group differences in more outcome measures during dual-task than single-task performance. Thus, the auditory Stroop test showed that Tai Chi practitioners achieved not only significantly less error rate in single-task, but also significantly faster reaction time in dual-task, when compared with healthy controls similar in age and other relevant demographics. Similarly, the stepping-down task showed that Tai Chi practitioners not only displayed significantly less COP sway area in single-task, but also significantly less COP sway path than healthy controls in dual-task. These results showed that Tai Chi practitioners achieved better postural stability after stepping down as well as better performance in auditory response task than healthy controls. The improved performance that was magnified by dual motor-cognitive task performance may point to the benefits of Tai Chi being a mind-and-body exercise.
Highlights
The incidence of falls increases with age and the resulting annual health cost in the UK escalates from ₤0.3 million per ten thousand population at age 60 to 64 to ₤1.5 million among those aged more than 75 (Scuffham et al, 2003)
Fifty-eight older adults participated in this study
Paired-t tests showed that all the participants had increased average reaction times and error rates in the dual- versus single-task
Summary
The incidence of falls increases with age and the resulting annual health cost in the UK escalates from ₤0.3 million per ten thousand population at age 60 to 64 to ₤1.5 million among those aged more than 75 (Scuffham et al, 2003). Dual-task designs for assessing postural control with concurrent cognitive processing have been adopted to compare younger with older adults performing a specific cognitive task while standing (Hauer et al, 2003; Shumway-Cook and Woollacott, 2000), walking (Kelly et al, 2008; Siu et al, 2008, 2009; van Iersel et al, 2007), or in response to postural perturbation (Maki et al, 2001; Rankin et al, 2000; Redfern et al, 2002; Zettel et al, 2008). The findings from such dual-task studies show that older subjects manifest both physical and cognitive deterioration when compared with younger subjects
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
