brandon shaw

Fibromyalgia is marked by widespread chronic pain, fatigue, and disrupted sleep, significantly impacting quality of life. This study aimed to explore the effect of Baduanjin Qigong (BQ) on impact of the disease and quality of sleep in elderly patients with fibromyalgia.

The study employed a semi-experimental design. A total of thirty-four elderly female patients with fibromyalgia were recruited through convenience sampling and allocated into two intervention groups: BQ group (n = 17) and a walking group (n = 17). The BQ protocol was conducted for 12 weeks, with sessions held three times a week. The walking group participated in a 12 week fitness walking program. Impact of the disease and quality of sleep were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks using The Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data were analyzed using paired t-test and independent t-test.

The significant improvements were observed in PSQI total (t (16) = 3.65, p = 0.002), FIQR (t (16) = 3.76, p = 0.002), FIQR function (t (16) = 2.16, p = 0.04), FIQR symptoms (t (16) = 2.957, p = 0.009) in BQ group. There was a significant difference between the average post-test data of the walking group and BQ group in daytime dysfunction, with the BQ group performing better than the walking group (p ≤ 0.05).

BQ significantly improves fibromyalgia impact and sleep quality in elderly patients and reduces daytime dysfunction more effectively than walking. However, it is not superior to walking in other aspects of disease impact and sleep quality enhancement.

There is a pressing need for effective and sustainable exercise training methods that enhance balance and lower limb strength in elderly patients suffering from fibromyalgia. This study aimed to explore the effect of Baduanjin Qigong on balance and lower limb strength in this demographic.

A total of thirty-four elderly female patients with fibromyalgia were recruited through convenience sampling and allocated into two intervention groups: Baduanjin Qigong (BQG) and a walking group. Physical performance was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks using the Berg Balance Scale and measurements of muscle strength.

The results showed that Hip Flexion Strength, Hip extension strength, plantar flexion strength, and balance were more in the BQG group than in the walking group, but ankle dorsiflexion Strength was more in the walking group compared to the BQG group.

The findings of this study suggest that Baduanjin Qigong exercises are beneficial for enhancing balance and lower limb strength, offering a secure and sustainable exercise option for elderly individuals with fibromyalgia. Nonetheless, further research is required to substantiate the effects of Baduanjin Qigong.

Novices in sport possesses similar visual skills to that of experts, however there may be major differences in magnitude of performance in these skills, with expert athletes only demonstrating superiority in specific vision skills and not all aspects of vision.

In this vain, the aim of this study was to discern whether Premier League rugby players has enhanced visio-spatial skills in comparison to First Division rugby players.

Thus, the present study compared the performance of Premier League rugby players (n = 40) and First Division rugby players (n = 40) on six specific components of vision, namely; accommodation facility, saccadic eye movement, speed of recognition, peripheral awareness, visual memory, and hand-eye coordination.

Premier League rugby players performed significantly (p = 0.001) better than the First Division rugby players in five of the six tests. but were found to be similar in visual memory performance (p = 0.810).

While this study substantiates the proposal that expert athletes, and specifically rugby players, have superior visual expertise to novice athletes, this study also found that this is not the case with all vision skills. The present study’s findings suggest that sport-specific vision testing batteries may be required to distinguish high performers from low performers in the same vein as physical tests are utilised in the selection and recruitment of athletes.