title: Effects of Baduanjin exercise on oxidative stress and antioxidant status and improving quality of life among middle-aged women.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Baduanjin exercise on oxidative stress, antioxidant status and quality of life in middle-aged women. A quasi-experimental design was adopted. Subjects were 31 middle-aged women. Subjects completed a supervised and standardized Baduanjin exercise program 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level was measured and determined by using a spectrophotometer for oxidative stress. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) was measured for the antioxidant status. A 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used to evaluate changes in quality of life. All outcome measures were collected before intervention and at the end of a 12-week intervention. The results suggest that there are significant differences in serum SOD level with Baduanjin exercise. SOD level was significantly increased after exercise (p < 0.05). Baduanjin exercise contributed significantly to antioxidant status on these samples. However, a reduction in MDA level was observed. The t-test value was 2.03 with a p-value of 0.052. The changes may be meaningful at a 5% level. There are significant improvements in quality of life after the exercise program. Subjects had greater improvements in 4 dimensions of SF-36, namely physical function, body pain, social function and general mental health (p < 0.05). In conclusion, Baduanjin exercise has beneficial effects on improving quality of life, increasing antioxidant enzymes and reducing oxidative stress in middle-aged women. Reduction of MDA level may be more attributable to the increase in the antioxidant enzyme SOD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, I-Shou University, Yanchao Township, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mei-Chi
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Tsai-Shu
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chi-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011788:Quality of Life; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000097:blood; D013624:Taiwan; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase