Strategic targeted exercise for preventing falls in elderly people

Abstract

Objective: Randomized, controlled, blinded trial to evaluate the effectiveness of strategic targeted exercise for preventing falls in elderly people.

Methods: Elderly people were randomly allocated to either a control group that received conventional exercise, or a training group that received conventional exercise plus proprioception and cognitive exercises. Subjects were asked to exercise three times a week (40 min per session) for 8 weeks. In the pre- and post-training sessions, all participants were assessed using a static postural control test with eyes open and closed, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the joint position sense test of the lower limbs.

Results: After 8 weeks, there were statistically significant improvements in the training group (n = 50) compared with the control group (n = 50) for mediolateral sway distance with eyes open and eyes closed, anteroposterior sway distance with eyes open but not with eyes closed, BBS scores and joint position sense test for the left but not the right knee.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that strategic targeted exercise could produce more beneficial effects on balance and proprioception function than conventional exercise alone, in elderly people.

Keywords: Elderly people; balance; conventional exercise; falls; proprioception; strategic targeted exercise.