Abstract:

Objective

To conduct a preliminary study on the efficacy of knee osteoarthritis after six months practice of Baduanjin by gait analysis.

Methods

Thirty-nine patients with knee osteoarthritis who were admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine from January first，2021 to December 31， 2021 were selected. Inclusion criteria： （1） meeting the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria for knee osteoarthritis； （2） subjects were over 50 years of age and had symptoms of knee osteoarthritis for at least six months prior to study entry； （3） the patients was not involved in other sports.Exclusion criteria： （1） patients with joint pain or deformity in the spine， hip， ankle， foot and other parts of the joints， patients with mobility problems， patients with a history of hip， knee and ankle surgery； （2） patients with injections of corticosteroids or hyaluronic acid into the knee joints one year prior to entry into the study；（3） patients with a combination of knee tumours， tuberculosis， infections， rheumatoid diseases and other diseases；（4） patients with a combination of severe cardio-cerebral and cerebral vascular diseases or organ failure who cannot tolerate the stimulation and psychiatric patients. The patients were divided into three groups according to the order of admission using the random number table method， 13 cases in each group. Control group： conventional treatment； two times group： on the basis of conventional treatment， practice Baduanjin twice a week， 30 min/time；five times group： on the basis of conventional treatment， practice Baduanjin five times a week， 30 min/time.Spatio-temporal parameters measured by the gait analyser were collected pre-practice， eight weeks and six months after the exercises： step speed， step frequency， step length and foot single support phase were used to statistically analyse the data using repeated measures ANOVA and non-parametric tests.

Results

There was no statistically significant difference between groups in each gait temporal parameter in the control group，twice group and five times groupbefore practice （all P＞0.05）. After six months of practice of Baduanjin， the left step length of the two times group was better than the control group （P＜0.05）. After eight weeks of practice of Baduanjin， the right step length of the five times group was better than that of the control group （P＜0.05）， and after six months of practice of Baduanjin， step frequency， left step length， and left foot single support phase of the five times group were better than the control group （all P＜0.05）. There was no statistically significant difference in gait parameters among the control group at each examination time point（all P＞0.05）. The differences in the left step length eight weeks and six months after practice compared with the data before practice in the two times group was statistically significant （F=5.83， P＜0.05）. The difference in right step length at six months after practice compared to that before practice was statistically significant （F=5.73， P＜0.05）.The differences in step frequency（F=12.28）， left foot single support phase（H=7.54）and right foot single support phase（H=8.51）at six months after practice in the five times group was statistically significant when compared to the data before practice （all P＜0.05）.

Conclusions

The practice of Baduanjin can improve the subjects' knee movement function. Practising Baduanjin two times or five times a week can improve the gait， and it is more advocated that patients with knee osteoarthritis should practice it five times a week.

Key words: Medicine, Chinese traditional, Knee, Osteoarthritis, Gait analysis