Effects of Multi-Component Physical Exercise Programs on falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Falls in elderly are a global public health issue. Physical exercise is potentially a worthwhile option to prevent them. However, it is unclear the appropriate exercise type that has to be conducted to prevent falls in elderly.

Aim: To systematically review the researches that studied the effects of multi-component physical exercise programs on the rate and risk of falls in healthy elderly.

Methods: A systematic search of researches published after 2005 was conducted in Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Dialnet databases taking into account inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: Seventeen articles constituted the systematic review, being most of them (88%) randomized controlled trials. The minimum and the maximum values of the average age of the participants in the researches were 65.4 and 83.4 years. In 15 out of the 17 researches the intervention group had positive results in the incidence of falls or their risk factors. In six researches multi-component physical exercise had beneficial effects on the incidence of falls. However, in 5 researches significant differences in the incidence of falls were not found. Thirteen researches showed beneficial effects of multi-component physical exercise on factors related to the risk of falls.

Conclusions: Overall, multi-component physical exercise programs are beneficial to reduce the rate and the risk of falls in elderly. Conducting few weekly sessions in a short exercise program may be the reason for unrewarding results. Apparently, the multi-component physical exercise programs are not very effective to decrease incidence of falls in elderly around 80 years old.