Most of the research on Tai Chi has been done in older individuals in the area of balance and fall prevention. This area of research is important because fall-related injuries are the leading cause of death from injury and disabilities among older adults. The most serious fall injury is hip fracture; one-half of all older adults hospitalized for hip fracture never regain their former level of function.
Because Tai Chi movements are slow and deliberate with shifts of body weight from one leg to the other in coordination with upper body movements (sometimes with one leg in the air), it challenges balance and one could speculate that it would help improve balance and reduce fall frequency. This has been shown in some research.
One study compared men of age 65 and older who had more than 10 years of experience practicing Tai Chi and no involvement in any other regular sports and physical activity, with similar-aged men who had not practiced Tai Chi or any other physical activities (they were sedentary). It was found that the men who studied Tai Chi performed better on tests of balance, flexibility, and cardiovascular function.
In another study, involving 22 men and women aged 22 to 76 years with mild balance disorders, it was found that eight weeks of Tai Chi training significantly improved function on a standard balance test (called the Romberg test).
In an interesting twist on studies of falling, researchers found that the frequency of fear of falling was reduced from 56% to 31% in a large group of adults, 70 years and older who practiced Tai Chi regularly. Confidence about not falling, and self-confidence in general, may be an unintended benefit of Tai Chi but one that is certainly worth pursuing. In a similar Tai Chi study of older adults, 54% of the subjects who practiced Tai Chi attributed their improved sense of confidence to improved balance. The authors concluded that "when mental as well as physical control is perceived to be enhanced, with a generalized sense of improvement in overall well-being, older persons' motivation to continue exercising also increases."
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