Abstract
BackgroundDeficient balance and fear of falling in elderly people can lead to disturbed daily activities, falling, and finally reduced quality of life. Therefore, evaluation of low-risk methods that might partially improve balance in this group of people is of utmost importance. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) exercises based on Xbox Kinect on balance and fear of falling among elderly people.MethodsThis clinical trial was performed on 60 elderly individuals living in nursing homes divided into two groups of control and Xbox. The participants in the intervention group received VR exercises based on Xbox Kinect in form of two 30–45-min sessions held on a weekly basis for 6 weeks. The individuals in the control group, on the other hand, received routine exercises of the nursing homes. The research tools used in this study included a demographic questionnaire, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and the Falling Efficacy Scale (FES).ResultsThe findings of the current study demonstrated that the scores of BBS and TUG test as the indices of balance among elderly people improved significantly in the Xbox group after the intervention (p < 0.001 for both BBS and TUG test). Moreover, the score of fear of falling diminished significantly in the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.001).ConclusionAccording to the results of the present investigation, 6 weeks of VR balance exercises could enhance balance and fear of falling among elderly people living in nursing homes.Trial registrationCode:IRCT20190727044347N1, Date: 17-8-2019.
Highlights
Deficient balance and fear of falling in elderly people can lead to disturbed daily activities, falling, and reduced quality of life
Considering the importance of this issue and the lack of investigations in this regard, the present study aims to evaluate the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) exercises on balance and fear of falling among the elderly people living in the nursing homes
No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, duration of stay at the nursing home, and number of falls before the intervention (p > 0.05)
Summary
Deficient balance and fear of falling in elderly people can lead to disturbed daily activities, falling, and reduced quality of life. Fear of falling and impaired balance are known as the adjustable risk factors of falling in old people [9]. Fear of falling is one of the common problems in elderly people and is more frequently observed in individuals with an experience of falling, impaired balance, low social activities, depression, and weak autonomy [10, 11]. In addition to the fear of falling, impaired balance is one of the most prevalent reasons for falling amongst elderly people [15]. Disturbed balance results in the fear of falling in elderly people, which can lead to impaired daily activities and diminished quality of life [3, 5]. Disturbed balance, which is another reason for falling in elderly people [15], has been defined as the disability for maintaining balance and alterations in body consistency at the center [16]
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