Get in the swing: Golf is better than tai chi for improving balance and mobility in people with Parkinson’s
- Researchers had 20 volunteers with Parkinson’s play golf or tai chi practice
- They found a greater degree of movement development in golfers than tai chi
- The team says the study group was small and needs more research in the future
Playing a golf course is better for developing and maintaining balance and mobility in people with Parkinson’s Disease than doing tai chi, a new study has revealed.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital of Boston studied 20 people with moderate symptoms of Parkinson’s nervous system disorder.
Approximately 145,000 people live with Parkinson’s Disease in the UK and it is estimated that one in 37 people living in the country today experience the condition.
The volunteers got 10 weeks of golf or tai chi at no cost and were picked up during a lift from a chair, walked 10 feet and then sat down again.
They found that people using their golf swing at a driving range were faster and more agile at the end of the study than those taking tai chi.
The volunteers got 10 weeks of golf or Tai Chi at no cost and were picked up during a lift from a chair, walked 10 feet and sat down again. Stock image
The study’s author, Dr Anne-Marie Wills, said people with Parkinson’s were already known to benefit from exercise – but not enough people were getting the amount they needed.
‘Golf is very popular – the most popular sport for people over 55 – that can inspire people to try and stick with it,’ she said.
‘We decided to compare golf and tai chi in our study because Tai Chi is the gold standard for balancing and preventing falls in people with Parkinson’s Disease.’
Restrictions were examined, as with only 20 participants the numbers were small and they only had to complete the exercise for 10 weeks.
She said: ‘While the results for golf may be surprising, it is important to remember that the number of participants in our study was small, and that the time we studied them was very short.
More research is needed in larger groups of people, over a longer period of time. ‘
For the study eight decided to use their golf swing at a driving range and 12 did tai chi – the ‘gold standard’ for helping Parkinson’s patients with balance.
At the beginning and end of the study, researchers assessed all of them, including a test that measures balance, walking ability and risk of falls in older adults.
For the test, a person has time while getting up from a chair, walking 10 feet and then returning to the chair and sitting down.
Golfers were 0.96 seconds faster on the test at the end of the study, while those who did tai chi were 0.33 seconds slower.
The study’s author, Dr Anne-Marie Wills, said people with Parkinson’s were already known to benefit from exercise – but not enough people were getting the amount they needed. Stock image
The researchers also found that 86 percent of golfers said they were more likely to continue the activity, compared to 33 percent of people who used Tai Chi.
Other than muscle pain from golf, there was no difference between the two groups in the number of falls or other complications.
Dr Wills said: ‘Our finding that golfers were much more likely to continue their sport is encouraging because it doesn’t matter how rewarding exercise is on paper if people don’t.
‘So if a golf club swing is more appealing than using Tai Chi, at least go to a driving range and hit balls for an hour instead.’
The study was presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.