OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of high-frequency whole-body vibration (WBV) on balancing ability in elderly women. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. Subjects were randomized to either the WBV intervention or the no-treatment control group. SETTING:Community-living elderly women. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-nine elderly women aged 60 or above without habitual exercise. INTERVENTION: Side alternating WBV at 20Hz with 3 minutes a day and 3 days a week for 3 months in the WBV intervention group. Those in control group remained sedentary with normal daily life for the whole study period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Limits of stability in terms of reaction time, movement velocity, directional control, endpoint excursion, maximum excursion, and the functional reach test were performed at baseline and endpoint. RESULTS: Significant enhancement of stability was detected in movement velocity (P<.01), maximum point excursion (P<.01), in directional control (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS:WBV was effective in improving the balancing ability in elderly women. This also provides evidence to support our user-friendly WBV treatment protocol of 3 minutes a day for the elderly to maintain their balancing ability and reduce risks of fall.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of high-frequency whole-body vibration (WBV) on balancing ability in elderly women. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. Subjects were randomized to either the WBV intervention or the no-treatment control group. SETTING: Community-living elderly women. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-nine elderly women aged 60 or above without habitual exercise. INTERVENTION: Side alternating WBV at 20Hz with 3 minutes a day and 3 days a week for 3 months in the WBV intervention group. Those in control group remained sedentary with normal daily life for the whole study period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Limits of stability in terms of reaction time, movement velocity, directional control, endpoint excursion, maximum excursion, and the functional reach test were performed at baseline and endpoint. RESULTS: Significant enhancement of stability was detected in movement velocity (P<.01), maximum point excursion (P<.01), in directional control (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: WBV was effective in improving the balancing ability in elderly women. This also provides evidence to support our user-friendly WBV treatment protocol of 3 minutes a day for the elderly to maintain their balancing ability and reduce risks of fall.
Authors: K S Leung; C Y Li; Y K Tse; T K Choy; P C Leung; V W Y Hung; S Y Chan; A H C Leung; W H Cheung Journal: Osteoporos Int Date: 2014-03-28 Impact factor: 4.507
Authors: H Wang; Y Wan; K-F Tam; S Ling; Y Bai; Y Deng; Y Liu; H Zhang; W-H Cheung; L Qin; J C-Y Cheng; K-S Leung; Y Li Journal: Osteoporos Int Date: 2011-12-09 Impact factor: 4.507