Effects of Health Qigong Exercises on Physical Function on Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Figures & data

Figure 1 Knee joint flexion test chart.

Figure 2 Hip extension test chart.

Figure 3 Hip flexion test chart.

Figure 4 Shoulder joint test chart.

Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of Participants

Characteristics	Experimental Group (n=20)	Control Group (n=20)	P-value
Age (years)	64.95±7.83	67.03±7.47	0.730
Height (cm)	163.67±6.29	163.09±7.59	0.160
Weight (kg)	69.53±10.66	68.42±10.79	0.821
Sex (male/female)	8/12	11/9	0.527
Years of PD (years)	3.63±1.52	3.25±1.73	0.581

Notes: Data are shown as mean ± SD. Independent sample t-test of variance was used to compare the age, height, weight, and years of PD among groups, and the chi-square test was used to compare sex among groups. The significance level was set at p<0.05.

Table 2 Reaction Time, One-Legged Blind Balance and TUG Test

		Experimental Group (n=20)			Control Group (n=20)
		Pre	Mid	Post	Pre	Mid	Post
Reaction time (s)		0.35±0.11	0.34±0.11	0.34±0.11	0.35±0.13	0.35±0.12	0.40±0.12^##
One-legged blind balance test (s)	Left	2.56±1.41	3.21±2.83	4.85±4.03^##	3.49±3.68	3.14±2.74	3.94±4.14
	Right	2.31±0.92	3.65±3.31	5.22±5.02^##	4.58±5.53	3.37±3.37	2.97±2.90
TUG test (s)		11.47±4.67	10.42±3.64^#	9.26±2.97^##*	11.77±5.52	12.16±5.61	12.71±6.02

Notes: Data are shown as mean ± SD. *p<0.05, comparisons are significant between the control group and the experimental group. ^#p<0.05, ^##p<0.01, comparisons are significant within groups.

Abbreviation: s, the unit is seconds.

Table 3 Gait Test

		Experimental Group (n=20)			Control Group (n=20)
		Pre	Mid	Post	Pre	Mid	Post
Normal speed-walking	Stride length (m)	1.059±0.14	1.066±0.18	1.175±0.16^#	1.047±0.28	1.076±0.35	1.077±0.34
	Cadence (steps/min)	61.30±12.95	63.89±14.21	63.38±15.24	59.93±3.54	63.62±10.95	63.50±11.99
	Gait velocity (m/s)	0.566±0.17	0.741±0.14^##	0.841±0.28^##*	0.660±0.18	0.640±0.24	0.649±0.177
Fast speed-walking	Stride length (m)	1.098±0.20	1.126±0.17	1.165±0.14	1.076±0.43	1.044±0.33	1.043±0.29
	Cadence (steps/min)	67.10±12.65	68.52±12.72	68.76±13.62	66.53±4.97	67.08±4.93	66.38±4.58
	Gait velocity (m/s)	0. 715±0.18	1.004±0.35^##	1.118±0.26^##*	0.802±0.33	0.810±0.500	0.857±0.42

Notes: Data are shown as mean ± SD. *p<0.05, comparisons are significant between the control group and the experimental group. ^#p<0.05, ^##p<0.01, comparisons are significant within groups.

Abbreviations: m, the unit is meter; step/min, step per minter; m/s, meter per second.

Table 4 Joint Range of Motion

		Experimental Group (n=20)			Contrast Group (n=20)
		Pre	Mid	Post	Pre	Mid	Post
Sit-and-reach(cm)		−0.91±7.75	2.06±8.63	2.58±8.56^##	1.77±35.20	0.24±4.61	0.25±5.85
Knee flexion (°)	Left	53.09±10.13	56.65±7.62	83.95±18.78^##**	57.40±5.46	61.25±7.84	58.10±13.17
	Right	53.20±7.86	53.75±7.29	84.55±16.38^##**	55.25±6.62	58.15±8.74	55.30±16.43
Hip flexion (°)	Left	84.20±14.61	85.20±12.23*	84.85±13.08**	80.15±12.55	76.00±10.09	74.75±9.96^#
	Right	76.20±14.45	78.00±9.45	78.45±11.94	74.20±8.59	75.90±8.16	75.55±13.23
Hip extension (°)	Left	7.40±4.03	6.60±5.37	12.25±5.87^##**	15.70±3.61	16.60±3.68	15.70±3.95
	Right	7.15±7.89	6.30±4.74	12.45±7.13^##**	15.80±5.02	16.60±6.68	14.45±7.89
Shoulder joint (cm)	Left	21.58±10.30	20.10±8.00	16.10±7.69^##**	23.85±8.37	23.60±8.52	25.30±8.50
	Right	17.65±7.57	18.11±7.94	14.24±6.43^##*	19.38±8.22	19.38±8.34	20.65±8.50

Notes: Data are shown as mean ± SD. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, comparisons are significant between the control group and the experimental group. ^#p<0.05, ^##p<0.01, comparisons are significant within groups.

Abbreviations: cm, the unit is centimeter; °, the unit is degree.