Effect of Tai Chi on improvement of depression, sleeping quality and quality of life in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure complicated with depression

OBJETIVE: To explore the effect of Tai Chi on improvement of depression, sleeping quality and quality of life in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure（CHF) complicated with depression. METHODS: Sixty elderly CHF patients complicated with depressive were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 30 cases in each group. The two groups were given conventional antidepressant treatment. The observation group received Tai Chi practicing at the same time. The therapeutic duration was 12 weeks in both groups. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale （ HAMD ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index（PSQI） and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire（MLHF） were used to assess all patients before treatment and after 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: In both groups, the scores after 12 weeks of treatment decreased compared to those before treatment（ P 〈 0.05 ), and the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group（ P 〈 0.05 ). CONCLUSION: The efficacy of Tai Chi combined with routine treatment is superior to that of routine treatment alone for improving depression, sleep quality and quality of life in elderly patients with CHF combined with depression.