The Effect of Intensity-Monitered Kinect-Based Tai Chi Exercise Program on the Cognitively Decline High-Risk Elderly

Exercise has been shown to improve physical and cognitive function in whether normal aging and cognitive impairment (CI) elderly. Tai chi is one of an appropriate exercise mode for the elderly. Additionally, interactive game-Kinect, may enhance exercise motivation and compliance. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of kinect-based tai chi on physical and cognitive function in normal aging and CI elderly. The study is scheduled biennial, experimental design of repeated measurement. A convenience sampling will recruit older adults aged over 60 (N=120) in elderly homes or retirement communities. Participants are randomized (stratified by cognition) to kinect-based tai chi exercise six months, traditional tai chi or control group. Data will be collected at baseline, month 3, after the intervention (month 6), and month 12. Primary outcomes are measures of cognitive function and serum level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cortisol. Secondary outcomes include physical function and emotion status. In addition to descriptive statistics, Chi-square test or one-way ANOVA will be used if appropriate to compare three groups for basic demographic data, cognitive assessments, serum level, physical fitness, and emotion status. Exercise intensity, energy expenditure(kcal), adherence of movement, attendance and completion will also be compared.Two-way (group × time) repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc Bonferroni test will be used to examine the outcomes at different time points. The level of significance is set at α=0.05.

Project ID:PC10401-1129
External Project ID:MOST103-2410-H182-019-MY2