Methods: using cluster randomised clinical trial , two community care sites in Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City were selected. Community-dwelling older adults who are over 65 years old and have the ability to communicate in Mandarin and Taiwanese were recruited . Those who had severe mental illness, moderate to severe dementia (level 2 or above on the Clinical Dementia Assessment Scale) and Barthel Index score <60 were excluded. There were 63 valid cases divided into experimental group(n=32) and control group(n=31). The experimental group practiced Qigong Wuqinxi 50 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks; meanwhile, the control group maintained routine daily activities. The two groups of participants were tested before and after the intervention period with the following research tools: 1) The Brief Pain Inventory, (BPI), 2) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), 3) Body Constitution Questionnaire (BCQ), 4) automatic tongue diagnosis system (ATDS). The research data were analyzed with SPSS 19 software package for descriptive statistics, chi-square test, independent t test and paired t test.
Pain and sleep disturbance are common symptoms of community-dwelling older adults observed in traditional Chinese medical(TCM) clinics. Acupuncture or other medical treatments have their side effects and usage limitations, so it is expected that other non-medical interventions can relieve the symptoms. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of Qigong Wuqinxi intervention on pain, sleep quality, TCM body constitution and tongue features of the community-dwelling older adults.