Two-year follow-up assessment of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the durability of Tai Chi on cognitive function in older adults with type 2 diabetes and mild cognitive impairment

作者：Xia Li, Jia Huang, Haiyin Deng, Zhizhen Liu, Yize Ruan, Zhen-Ming Huang, Yannan Chen, Liyuan Tao, Lidian Chen, Jing Tao · 发表于：Aging Clinical and Experimental Research · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1007/s40520-025-03218-x · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention、Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery、Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements

AIMS: Building upon established short-term benefits, this study aimed to assess Tai Chi's durability for preserving global and domain-specific cognition in older adults (≥ 60 years) with type 2 diabetes and mild cognitive impairment (T2D-MCI), compared to fitness walking and health education. METHODS: Participants (n = 328) were randomized 1:1:1 to Tai Chi, fitness walking, or health education groups, completing 24-week interventions. Cognitive outcomes-global cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA), executive function, attention, visuospatial ability, and language fluency-were evaluated at baseline, 24 weeks(post-intervention), 36 weeks, and 2 years. Linear mixed models analyzed group-by-time interactions, while time-dependent Cox regression quantified minimal clinically important difference (MCID) attainment (MoCA improvement ≥ 4 points). RESULTS: At 2-year follow-up, linear mixed models revealed significant group-by-time interactions for MoCA (p < 0.001). The Tai Chi group showed greater MoCA improvement versus health education (mean difference: 1.8, 95% CI 0.3-3.3, p = 0.016). Crucially, 49.8% of Tai Chi practitioners achieved MCID-nearly double the probability of health education (HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.4-2.8, p < 0.001) and exceeding fitness walking (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2-2.4; p = 0.005). Tai Chi selectively enhanced executive function (shorter Stroop reaction times vs. health education, p < 0.05; fewer color-word errors vs. fitness walking, p = 0.049) and visuospatial a...