The Benefits of Shuai Shou Gong (SSG) Demonstrated in a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) Study of Older Adults in Two Communities in Thailand

Introduction: Shuai Shou Gong (SSG) is a type of Arm Swing Exercise (ASE) developed and practiced especially by older people in China for over one thousand years to maintain physical health and well-being. Until now the potential benefits of SSG have not been investigated in a Randomised Control Trial (RCT).
Materials and Methods: Fifty six older women were recruited from each of two urban communities in Khon Kaen, Thailand. One community was randomly assigned as the Exercise Group (mean age 68.3 years, standard deviation 5.6 years) and the other as the Control Group (69.4 years, 4.4 years). The Exercise Group performed SSG for 40 minutes, three days per week for two months, whereas the Control Group maintained their usual daily life. Measurements of Posture (C7 to Wall Distance (C7WD), Standing Height (SH), Flexibility (Back Scratch of Left and Right arms (BSL and BSR) and Chair Sit and Reach of Left and Right legs (CSRL and CSRR), Gait (Timed Up and Go (TUG)), and Cognition (Barthel Activities of Daily Living Index (BADL) and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES) questionnaires) were recorded for each group prior to, on day 1, week 4, and week 8 of the SSG training.
Results: The 8 week SSG training course produced a significant interaction between group and time for the combined set of all outcome measures (C7WD, SH, BSL, BSR, CSRL, CSRR, TUG, BADL, and BSES) (Modified ANOVA-Type Statistic (MATS) p-value < 0.001) and for the four categories of Posture, Flexibility, Gait, and Cognition (all Wald-Type Statistic (WTS) p-values < 0.05) and in all cases the changes in the Exercise Group were in the direction predicted to be beneficial. No significant interaction effect between time and group was found after either one session or four weeks of SSG training for any of the categories (all WTS p > 0.05) with significant effects only arising after eight weeks (all WTS p < 0.05). Thus although alterations were shown to be increasingly beneficial over time the minimum period required to produce a statistically significant benefit from performing SSG training was 8 weeks. For the Control Group no significant changes were identified for Posture, Flexibility and Cognition however a significant deterioration was observed in TUG (WTS p = 0.003).
Conclusions: SSG is a holistic, gentle, rhythmic, whole body sequence of movements that may be readily learned and enjoyed in a group setting and has been confirmed in an RCT study of older adult females to produce significant benefits in Posture, Flexibility, Gait and Cognition.

引言：捶首功（SSG）是一种源自中国，尤其为老年人所发展的手臂摆动锻炼（ASE），历经千载，旨在维持身心康健。迄今为止，捶首功的潜在益处尚未在随机对照试验（RCT）中进行过研究。

材料与方法：从泰国孔敬府的两个城市社区中招募了五十六位老年女性。其中一组随机分配为锻炼组（平均年龄68.3岁，标准差5.6岁），另一组为对照组（69.4岁，4.4岁）。锻炼组进行捶首功锻炼，每次40分钟，每周三次，持续两个月，而对照组则维持其日常生活方式。在捶首功训练前的、第一日、第四周和第八周，对两组进行了姿势（C7至墙壁距离（C7WD）、站立高度（SH）、柔韧性（左右臂背部抓握（BSL和BSR）以及左右腿的坐椅起立和伸展（CSRL和CSRR））、步态（计时起立和行走（TUG））和认知（Barthel日常生活活动指数（BADL）和Rosenberg自尊量表（RSES）问卷）的测量。

结果：为期八周的捶首功训练课程产生了组别与时间之间在所有结果指标（C7WD、SH、BSL、BSR、CSRL、CSRR、TUG、BADL和BSES）的显著交互作用（修正型方差分析统计量（MATS）p值<0.001），以及姿势、柔韧性、步态和认知四个类别的显著交互作用（所有Wald型统计量（WTS）p值<0.05）。在所有情况下，锻炼组的改变均符合预期益处。在任何类别中，无论是单次训练还是四周训练后，均未发现时间与组别之间的显著交互作用（所有WTS p>0.05），仅在八周后出现显著效应（所有WTS p<0.05）。因此，尽管改变显示出随着时间的推移益处逐渐增加，但产生统计学上显著益处的最小时间期限为8周。对于对照组，姿势、柔韧性和认知方面没有发现显著变化，但在TUG（WTS p=0.003）方面观察到显著恶化。

结论：捶首功是一种全面、温和、有节奏的整体动作序列，易于在团体环境中学习和享受，并在一项针对老年女性的随机对照试验（RCT）研究中证实，捶首功可显著改善姿势、柔韧性、步态和认知。