B. Brahmbhatt1, M. Sheth2
1Ahmedabad Physiotherapy College, Ahmedabad, India, 2SBB College of Physiotherapy, Ahmedabad, India
Background: Elderly people have reduced muscle strength and balance as a result of ageing and other risk factors leading to increased risk of falls and related injuries. Exercise training plays a vital role in restoring independence and functionality.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of an exercise program on lower limb muscle strength and balance among elderly population.
Methods: A randomized control trial was conducted with 50 participants from the physiotherapy department. They were randomly allocated into an interventional group(25) and a control group(25). Elderly people who were independent,who understood the purpose of this study and agreed to participate,both men and women with age group of 60-80 years and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score of </=45 were included. An exercise program including warm-up exercises, balancing exercises, strengthening exercises, flexibility and cool-down exercises,was designed for the intervention group. Walking was advised as a home exercise program. The intervention group received the exercise program 4 times per week for 6 weeks and the control group was kept in waiting period. A leaflet of falls prevention advices in Gujarati language was designed and provided to both the groups. Outcome measures used were BBS and Manual muscle testing (MMT) of lower limb muscles. Statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS-20 using the general linear model: repeated measures ANOVA and the values of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: Twenty eight females and twenty two males with mean age of 69.2±6.6 years participated. The intervention group showed statistically significant improvement in balance and lower limb muscle strength with time and also when compared with the control group (p = <.001). For BBS score, statistically significant main effect for Time(pre and post exercise) (F (1, 48) = 309.96, p < .001, η2p = .87) and Group x Time was observed (F (1, 48) = 309.96, p < .001, η2p = .87). Also, a significant main effect for Time and Group x Time was observed for lower limb muscle strength for right hip extensors (F (1, 48) =126.0,p =0.000), (F (1, 48) =126.0,p =0.000), left hip extensors(F (1, 48) =126.0,p =0.000), (F (1, 48) =126.0,p =0.000),right knee extensors(F (1, 48) =48.18,p =0.000), (F (1, 48) =18.44,p =0.000),left knee extensors(F (1, 48) =36.0, p =0.000), (F (1, 48) =16.0,p =0.000), right ankle planter flexors(F (1, 48) =22.15,p =0.000), (F (1, 48) =22.15,p =0.000) and left ankle planter flexors(F (1, 48) =18.86,p =0.000), (F (1, 48) =18.86,p =0.000).
Conclusion(s): The designed exercise program for elderly was effective as a significant improvement in lower limb muscle strength and balance was seen in participants who received the exercise program.
Implications: The exercise program designed for this study improved the balance and lower limb muscle strength among elderly so it should be utilized in the larger population and the effects should be analyzed in different age-groups and genders. Moreover, future research can be done on comparing the present exercise protocol with other protocols for falls prevention. Long-term effects of this exercise program on falls prevention should be explored in further research.
Funding, acknowledgements: None
Keywords: Balancing Exercises, Strengthening Exercises, Ageing
Topic: Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Medilink Hospital
Committee: Medilink Ethics Committee
Ethics number: 42812
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
