TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Musculoskeletal strength, balance performance, and self-efficacy in elderly ving tsun Chinese martial art practitioners: implications for fall prevention
JO  - Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine
A1  - Fong, Shirley S. M.
A1  - Ng, Shamay S. M.
A1  - Liu, Karen P. Y.
A1  - Pang, Marco Y. C.
A1  - Lee, H. W.
A1  - Chung, Joanne W. Y.
A1  - Lam, Priscillia L.
A1  - Guo, X.
SP  - e402314
EP  - e402314
VL  - 2014
IS  - 
N2  - OBJECTIVEs. To (1) compare the bone strength, lower limb muscular strength, functional balance performance, and balance self-efficacy between Ving Tsun (VT) martial art practitioners and nonpractitioners and (2) identify the associations between lower limb muscular strength, functional balance performance, and balance self-efficacy among the VT-trained participants. <br><br>METHODS. Thirty-five VT practitioners (mean age ± SD = 62.7 ± 13.3 years) and 49 nonpractitioners (mean age ± SD = 65.9 ± 10.5 years) participated in the study. The bone strength of the distal radius, lower limb muscular strength, functional balance performance, and balance self-efficacy were assessed using an ultrasound bone sonometer, the five times sit-to-stand test (FTSTS), the Berg balance scale (BBS), and the Chinese version of the activities-specific balance confidence scale, respectively. A multivariate analysis of covariance was performed to compare all the outcome variables between the two groups. <br><br>RESULTS. Elderly VT practitioners had higher radial bone strength on the dominant side (P < 0.05), greater lower limb muscular strength (P = 0.001), better functional balance performance (P = 0.003), and greater balance confidence (P < 0.001) than the nonpractitioners. Additionally, only the FTSTS time revealed a significant association with the BBS score (r = -0.575,  P = 0.013). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS. VT may be a suitable health-maintenance exercise for the elderly. Our findings may inspire the development of VT fall-prevention exercises for the community-dwelling healthy elderly.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1741-427X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/402314
ID  - ref1
ER  -