Table 1 Descriptive statistics of sociodemographic information of Baduanjin exercise group and controls; n = 387

Age (years)

24 ± 4

23 ± 3

− 0.32

0.964

Gender (M/F)

Men

106 (54.3%)

91 (47.3%)

0.716

Female

89 (45.7%)

101 (52.7%)

Education

College/Undergraduate

114 (58.4%)

109 (56.7%)

1.493

0.439

Postgraduate Student

49 (25.25%)

61(31.9%)

Doctoral candidate

20(10.4%)

22(11.4%)

Marital status

Married

19 (9.7%)

13 (6.7%)

0.719

0.35

Other

176 (90.3%)

179 (93.3%)

Smoking

status

Never

Yes

Ever smoking

104 (53.3%)

65 (33.3%)

26 (13.4%)

99 (51.56%)

70 (36.4%)

23 (12.04%)

0.819

0.631

Drinking status

Never

Yes

Ever drinking

106 (54.35%)

77 (39.4%)

12 (6.25%)

109 (56.7%)

69 (35.9%)

14 (7.4%)

0.496

0.774

Sedentary time (hour)

 ≤ 5

5–9

10 ≥ 

40 (20.5%)

58 (29.8%)

97 (49.7%)

37 (19.2%)

63 (32.9%)

92 (47.9%)

1.33

0.628

Frequency of participation in exercise (times / week)

 ≤ 3

3–5

5 ≥ 

83 (42.5%)

70 (35.8%)

42 (21.7%)

78 (40.6%)

67 (34.8%)

47 (24.6%)

− 0.25

0.356