Baduanjin Exercise: An Alternative Path to Better Sleep
About 50% to 75% of older adults living independently have trouble sleeping. This can make it hard for them to handle daily activities, increase the risk of falls, worsen memory and thinking issues, and lower their quality of life.
As people get older, their sleep quality naturally decreases. The usual approach to managing this problem is a combination of meds and non-drug treatments such as behavioral therapy and lifestyle changes.
While medications can treat sleep issues in older adults effectively, they also cause a number of unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and allergic reactions. For this reason, alternative approaches are becoming increasingly popular.
However, it’s still challenging to adopt these therapies more widely due to the limited evidence supporting their effectiveness. A study by the Shenzhen Nanshan Center for Chronic
Disease Control in China helped fill this gap by showing that a mind-body exercise like Baduanjin (pronounced bā duàn jÎn) could improve the sleep quality of older people with sleep issues.
Baduanjin is a traditional Chinese Qigong exercise consisting of eight separate exercises, each focusing on different parts of the body and energy pathways. The movements are slow and coordinated with deep breathing, aiming to promote the flow of Qi (vital energy) through the body, improve flexibility, strengthen muscles, and improve overall health and well-being.
Previous studies suggest that Baduanjin might help older people sleep better, but we’re not sure how well it works. For instance, Baduanjin is thought to be more effective when done in groups, but most studies have looked at it as being done alone and without proper supervision.
So, this study tried to understand how well a 24-week Baduanjin exercise program, led by an instructor in a group, could improve sleep quality and overall quality of life for older adults dealing with sleep problems.
Baduanjin Improves Sleep But Not Quality of Life
The researchers behind this study recruited 139 participants who were over 60 and had sleep problems. They divided the participants into two groups. One group underwent a 24-week Baduanjin exercise program conducted in a group setting. These sessions lasted 45 minutes each, occurred five times per week, and were led by a trained instructor. The group size varied from 16 to 19 participants.
Another group, called the control group, was placed on a waiting list and instructed to continue with their usual lifestyle.
All participants completed a questionnaire about their health and sleep quality after 12 and 24 weeks of intervention. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a self-reported questionnaire that assesses sleep quality and sleep disturbances over a one-month interval. A global score greater than 5 suggests the presence of sleep disturbances.
The researchers used the SF-36 questionnaire to measure the participant’s health status and quality of life. It has a score that ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.
Before the intervention, self-reported sleep quality was similar between the groups. After 24 weeks, those who participated in the Baduanjin exercise program experienced a significant improvement in their sleep quality compared to those in the control group.
