Fall-related injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults worldwide.
While the use of exercise interventions to address this issue has been extensively studied, exercise variables have not sufficiently been reported. Moreover, the application of these variables in balance training has been based on expert opinion rather than research evidence.
Ninety-five eligible trials were extracted from previous systematic reviews, of which eighty were used for meta-regressions. Eligible studies reported at least one end-intervention balance outcome measurement that was consistent with the five subgroups of balance exercise identified.
Risk of bias was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. The risk of systematic bias in the outcomes related to study quality was low.
No significant associations were found between individual exercise variables and the standardised mean difference of study effects. Center of mass control exercise types were found to explain only 2.14% of the variance in balance outcomes.
While balance exercise is effective at improving balance performance, there is no clear evidence of which specific exercise frequency, time, or duration is associated with positive effects.
> From: Farlie et al., Br J Sports Med 53 (2019) 996-1002 . All rights reserved to BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. Click here for the online summary.
Expert opinion by José Pedro Correia
This systematic review shows us that traditional exercise variables seem to not explain why balance exercise interventions are effective in the elderly.
Other measures should be sought to determine the efficacy of these interventions and optimise fall prevention outcomes in this population, since current approaches do not seem to be sufficient.
