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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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THE EFFECT OF CHINESE YUANJI-DANCE ON DYNAMIC BALANCE AND THE ASSOCIATED ATTENTIONAL DEMANDS IN ELDERLY ADULTS |
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Wen-Lan Wu1  ,
Ta-Sen Wei2, Shen-Kai Chen1,3, Jyh-Jong Chang4,
Lan-Yuen Guo1 and Hwai-Ting Lin1 |
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1Department of Sports Medicine, 3 Department of Orthopaedic and 4 Department of Occupational Therapy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan, 2Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2010) 9, 119 - 126 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Walking performance changes with age. This has implications for
the problem of falls in older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate
the effects of Yuanji-Dance practice on walking balance and the associated
attention demand in healthy elderly. Fifteen community-dwelling elderly
(comparison group, no regular exercise habit) and fifteen Yuanji- Dance
elderly (exercise group, dancing experience: 5.40 ± 1.95 years), aged 60-70
years, were included in this study. The subjects in exercise group participated
in a 90-minute Yuanji-Dance practice at least three times per week and the
comparison group continued their normal daily physical activity. Walking
balance measures (including walking velocity, step length, step width, and
percentage of time spent in double limb support, COM velocity and COM-COP
inclination angles) and attentional demand tests (button reaction time and
accuracy) were conducted under different conditions. Our results showed
that stride lengths, walking velocities, peak A/P velocities (AP V) of the
COM, medial COM-COP inclination (M angle) angles, reaction time, and accuracy
decrease significantly as the dual-task (walking plus hand button pressing
tasks) applied for either the comparison or exercise groups. These results
demonstrated that walking performance is attenuated in our elderly participants
as the cognitive tasks applied. Analysis also identified a significantly
faster RT for our exercise group both in standing and walking conditions.
This may indicate that physical exercise (Yuanji-Dance) may have facilitating
effects on general cognitive and perceptual- motor functions. This implies
that Chinese Yuanji-Dance practice for elderly adults may improve their
personal safety when walking especially under the condition of multiple
task demand. Key words: Yuanji-Dance, exercise, balance, attention. |
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