Effectiveness of Thai mind-body exercise “Rusie Dutton” on blood pressure and quality of life in older adults in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

The aim of this quasi-experimental research was to examine the effects of the Thai mind-body exercise “Rusie Dutton” (RD) that conducted by Wat Po Thai traditional Massage School on blood pressure (BP) and quality of life (QOL) in older adults. Participants aged 60-75 years were recruited from two  communities in Bangkok, Thailand and randomly allocated to two groups: the experimental group (n=23) attended the RD class once a week and practiced by following a poster at home every day for 13 weeks, and the control group (n=22) received no intervention. BP and QOL that using the WHOQOL-BREF-THAI questionnaire were assessed at the beginning and the end. Independent t-test and paired t-test were used for data analysis.

After the intervention, the experimental group showed significant improvement in decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) (11.30 mmHg, p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (6.61 mmHg, p < 0.001), and increased QOL scores in physical health (6.39 points, p < 0.001), psychological health (5.04 points, p < 0.001), satisfaction with the environmental domain (2.91 points, p < 0.001), and improvement in total QOL (14.87 points, p < 0.001). In addition, the experimental group demonstrated better performance in SBP (17.55 mmHg, p < 0.001), DBP (5.92 mmHg, p < 0.05), and QOL scores in physical health (3.89 points, p < 0.001), satisfaction with the environmental domain (1.96 points, p < 0.05), and total QOL (9.48 points, p < 0.001) compared to the control group. This study demonstrated that the Thai mind-body exercise “Rusie Dutton” has a potency to reduce BP and improve QOL in older adults especially in physical health and satisfaction with the environmental domain.

Present findings encourage the future studies are warranted to reveal the influence of Rusie Dutton on BP and vascular aging.