Tai Chi Improves Balance, Muscle Strength, And Ambulation Capacity In Students With Intellectual Disability

PURPOSE: To determine the effects of a 15-week Tai Chi intervention on balance, lower extremity muscle strength, and ambulation capacity in students with intellectual disability. METHODS: Twenty students with intellectual disability were recruited from a special education school and divided into TC and control groups. TC group experienced Tai Chi intervention in a 40-min session at 3 times a week and control group conducted physical education for 15 weeks. Balance, lower limb muscle strength, and ambulation capacity were assessed by Berg Balance Scale (BBS) tests, Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test (FTSST), and Standardized Walking Obstacle Course (SWOC) tests, respectively. Two-way repeated ANOVA was used to determine the main effects of groups, time, and their interaction on the measurements. RESULTS: Ten students from the TC group (4 females and 6 males, age: 11.16 ± 0.72 years, height: 1.57 ± 0.07 m, and weight: 47.71 ± 3.91 kg) and ten students from the control group (4 females and 6 males, age: 11.28 ± 0.7 years, height: 1.54 ± 0.1 m, and weight: 48.2 ± 4.6 kg) completed the intervention. Significant interaction effects were detected in BBS score (P < 0.001, η2p = 0.604), SWOC time (P = 0.001, η2p = 0.484) and FTSST (P = 0.002, η2p = 0.409). Post-hoc indicated that compared with pre-test, BBS score significantly increased (from 46.3 ± 5.56 to 47.8 ± 5.09; p < 0.001), SWOC time significantly decreased (from 34.8 ± 14.23 to 30.9 ± 12.39; P < 0.001), FTSST time significantly shorted (from 9.9 ± 3.27 to 8.89 ± 2.57; P < 0.001) after 15-week intervention in Tai Chi group. No significant difference between pre-and post-exercise in control group. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that 15-week Tai Chi intervention can effectively improve balance, lower extremity muscle strength, and ambulation capacity in students with intellectual disability. This work was supported by the Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (ZR2020QC091).