OBJECTIVE: Evaluating the effects of Tai Chi exercise on physical fitness, blood pressure, and perceived health in community-dwelling elderly. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Community-dwelling elderly in Vinh City, Vietnam. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-six community-dwelling participants aged 60 to 79 years (68.9 +/- 5.1 years) were recruited. INTERVENTION: Subjects were divided randomly into two groups: Tai Chi and control groups. Participants in the Tai Chi group (aged 69.02 +/- 5.16 years) attended a 60-minute Tai Chi practice session twice a week for 6 months. The session consisted of a 15-minute warm-up and a 15-minute cool-down period. The control group (aged 68.72 +/- 4.94 years) maintained routine daily activities. OUTCOME MEASURES: The Senior Fitness Test and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) are primary outcome measures. RESULTS: After 24 weeks of the Tai Chi training program, the intervention group showed significant decrease in systole of 12 mmHg and heart rate 6.46 bpm. Body mass index and waist-hip ratio were also reduced by 1.23 and 0.04, respectively. The Senior Fitness Test and SF-36 showed significant improvement. CONCLUSION: In this randomized controlled trial study, Tai Chi is beneficial to improve systole blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, perceived health, and physical fitness. Assessment of the effects of Tai Chi may be focused more on chronic disease with a long-term training program in the future.

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