Comparison Of The Effects Of Tai Chi And High-intensity Interval Training On Bone Mineral Density In Substance Abuse

PURPOSE: One of the chronic diseases for substance abusers is low bone mineral density (BMD). Studies support that exercises can improve BMD. The study aimed to compare the effects of Tai Chi (TC) and High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on the BMD. METHODS: 120 subjects from a compulsory drug rehabilitation center voluntarily took part and were randomly divided into two groups (TC group and HIIT group). The two groups received either TC or HIIT intervention three times a week for 60 minutes a session. The intervention lasted for 12 months. BMD test was used to measure at subjects' heel with the calcaneus Ultrasound Bone Densitometer (OSTEOKJ3000) at the baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months, respectively. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to test whether the treatments different after 12 months by SPSS22.0. RESULTS: The baseline of the BMD test showed that the proportion of osteopenia in the TC group reached 70%, and the proportion of osteoporosis reached 18.3% while the proportion of osteopenia in the HIIT group reached 61%, and the proportion of osteoporosis reached 22%. The exercises significantly improved the BMD level in both groups which the T score increased from - 1.98 to - 1.12, F(4,180) = 0.551, P < 0.001 in TC group and from -1.92 to -0.91, F(4,168) = 0.421, P < 0.001 in HIIT group, and the improved range in HIIT group was slightly higher than TC group, but there was no statistical difference between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The finding suggests that HIIT and TC exercise can improve BMD and reduce bone loss.