Investigating the Palliative Effect of an Exercise Intervention on Balance, Prevention of Falling and Quality of Life in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Background: The normal changes of aging like sarcopenia, poor eyesight, and lacking balance make elderly people vulnerable and likely to fall. Falls in older adults are a serious public health problem. Previous research has shown evidence for the efficiency of exercise as falls prevention. Exercise plays a key role in reducing fall risk and stimulates postural control by improving body power. The present study intended to investigate the palliative effect of an exercise intervention on quality of life, physical function, and prevention of falling in older adults.Method: PubMed, Google Scholar, and SID databases were searched for relevant clinical trials published through the years ۲۰۱۲-۲۰۲۳. The terms ‘exercise, fall, and elderly’ were used to accelerate the search. Then, by applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the full text of the articles was examined. Thus, a total ۱۶ studies were selected and analyzed in this review.Results: In this study, the exercise intervention group was compared with the control group. In the studies reviewed, several different sports such as Pilates, YoMed (Yoga Meditation), and ۱۷ exercise movements named Otago were tested. The follow-up duration across included trials ranged from ۳ months to ۲ years. Pilates improved functional mobility and static and dynamic balance which was measured by Berg Balance Scale and posturographic analysis. YoMed was the next experimental subject. It had a great effect on reducing fall risks by enhancing elderly confidence leading to a reduction of fear of falling. It was measured by the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale. Otago Exercise Programme was another reviewed one which influenced the strength and physical performance measured by Physiological Profile Assessment. A few articles examined some exercise movements that reduced the number of falls and were measured by the Timed Up and Go test. Generally, all these improvements led to a health-related quality of life (HROQL) in older adults.Conclusions: Regular exercise intervention has the potential to be used as a therapeutic method since it has beneficial effects on improving muscle strength and balance which leads to more mobility, preventing falling, and enhancing HRQOL in the elderly based on the obtained data

Keywords:

Exercise Intervention , Fall Prevention , Elderly , Systematic Review.