A Randomized Trial of a 20-Week Sun Tai Chi for Osteoarthritic Knee Pain in Elders with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Tsai, Pao-Feng

Tuesday, July 12, 2011: 3:45 PM

Pao-Feng Tsai, PhD, RN
College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Jason Y. Chang, PhD
Department of Neurobiolgy and Developmental Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Cornelia Beck, PhD, RN
Department of Geriatric, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD
Sealy Center on Aging, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to know the benefit of Tai Chi for osteoarthritis knee pain in elders with and without mild dementia.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to know the research method that can be used to test the effect of Tai Chi on osteoarthritis knee pain.

Purpose: This cluster-randomized clinical trial with two arms tested the efficacy of a 20-week Sun style Tai Chi (TC) program in reducing osteoarthritis (OA) knee pain in community-dwelling elders with mild cognitive impairment (CI).

Methods: Elders in each site were randomly assigned to participate in the TC program (N=28) or an activity program (N=27). Elders' verbal report of pain, use of pain medication and pain behaviors were assessed. The intent to treat principle was used to analyze the results.

Results: Results indicated that for 4 out of 5 pain variables [3-day average Western Ontario and McMaster (WOMAC) OA Index pain score, observation of pain behaviors, monthly average daily Verbal Descriptor Scale (VDS) score, and monthly average daily analgesic dosage] trajectories over time significantly differed between the two groups (p= 0.021- 0.048). Over the 5 months, the 3-day average WOMAC pain score dropped 2.60 (37% reduction) in the TC group, while the score for the activity group dropped 1.03 (14% reduction). The number of pain behaviors dropped .96 (21% reduction) in the TC group, while the number in the activity group increased 1.63 (33% increase) over the 5 months. The activity group’s monthly average VDS score and analgesic dosage remained constant over time (p=ns). However, the monthly average VDS score dropped .33 (25% reduction) and the daily analgesic dosage dropped 223 mg (17% reduction) in the TC group.

Conclusion: The study results indicate that Tai Chi is effective in reducing OA knee pain in elders with mild CI.

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