Cross-sectional study of depression tendency and sleep quality in 1352 people practicing Tai Chi

This cross-sectional study aimed to analyse the relationship between Tai Chi exercise habits and depression tendency and sleep quality in people practicing Tai Chi in Chengdu, China. A total of 1352 Tai Chi practitioners aged 50-79 years old were divided into six groups according to age and gender for Tai Chi exercise habits, depression tendency and sleep quality. The frequency of weekly Tai Chi practice and duration of single Tai Chi practice have a significant positive correlation with the exercise years. For female subjects who had long-term Tai Chi exercise, depression decreased with the duration and weekly frequency of a single exercise. Tai Chi exercise habits reduced sleep disturbance scores (in the male group aged 60-69 years old, exercise years, r = -0.242, p = 0.004) and sleep duration (in the male and female group aged 70-79 years old, duration of single Tai Chi practice, r = -0.334, p = 0.035; r = -0.235, p = 0.029), suggesting that long-term Tai Chi exercise may reduce the trend of poor sleep quality due to increased ageing.