Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a 6-month Ba Duan Jin exercise program in improving the balance of community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A two arms, parallel-group, cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 1 028 community residents aged 60-80 years in 40 communities in 5 provinces of China. Participants in the intervention group (20 communities, 523 people) received Ba Duan Jin exercise 5 days/week, 1 hour/day for 6 months, and three times of falls prevention health education, and the control group (20 communities, 505 people) received falls prevention health education same as the intervention group. The Berg balance scale (BBS) score was the leading outcome indicator, and the secondary outcome indicators included the length of time of standing on one foot (with eyes open and closed), standing in a tandem stance (with eyes open and closed), the closed circle test, and the timed up to test. Results: A total of 1 028 participants were included in the final analysis, including 731 women (71.11%) and 297 men (28.89%), and the age was (69.87±5.67) years. After the 3-month intervention, compared with the baseline data, the BBS score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group by 3.05 (95%CI: 2.23-3.88) points (P<0.001). After the 6-month intervention, compared with the baseline data, the BBS score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group by 4.70 (95%CI: 4.03-5.37) points (P<0.001). Ba Duan Jin showed significant improvement (P<0.05) in all secondary outcomes after 6 months of exercise in the intervention group compared with the control group. Conclusions: This study showed that Ba Duan Jin exercise can improve balance in community-dwelling older adults aged 60-80. The longer the exercise time, the better the improvement.
目的： 评价八段锦锻炼6个月对社区老年人平衡功能的影响。 方法： 使用两平行组整群随机对照试验的方法对我国5个省（市）40个社区的1 028名60~80岁社区居住老年人进行干预研究。干预组研究对象（20个社区、523名）进行每天1 h、每周5 d、持续6个月的八段锦锻炼和3次预防老年人跌倒健康教育；对照组研究对象（20个社区、505名）仅接受3次预防跌倒健康教育。研究主要指标为Berg平衡量表（BBS）得分，次要指标包括单脚站立时间、双脚前后站立时间、闭目原地踏步时间、计时起立行走时间。 结果： 1 028名研究对象进入分析，包括731名女性（71.11%）和297名男性（28.89%），年龄（69.87±5.67）岁。与基线调查相比，干预3个月后干预组BBS得分较对照组增加3.05（95%CI：2.23~3.88）分（P<0.001）；干预6个月后干预组BBS得分较对照组增加4.70（95%CI：4.03~5.37）分（P<0.001）。与对照组相比，干预6个月后干预组研究对象的各项次要指标均有改善（P<0.05）。 结论： 八段锦运动可以提高60~80岁社区老年人的平衡功能，运动时间越长，改善效果越好。.