INFLUENCE OF WHOLE-BODY AND STRENGTH TRAINING ON BALANCE AND ON FALLS RISK IN PHYSICALLY ACTIVE WOMEN AGED OVER 50 YEARS

Abstract

Consequences of falls in older adults are a serious issue and challenge for healthcare systems. Many of the falls result in serious injuries, including bone fractures, which necessitate long hospital stays; and their consequences often have unfavourable effect on the level of functional independence of older adults. Balance disorders and resulting falls are related to the natural processes of ageing, including weakened muscle strength and gradual decrease of function of all the systems of the body. It seems that a properly planned and conducted intervention programme may be an important factor in preventing falls in this age group. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess changes in balance and falls risk index in women aged over 50 years following two different types of training. The study involved 36 physically active females (mean age 67.11±5.35). Within the intervention, the studied women participated in a programme of whole-body training (8 weeks) and strength training (8 weeks). Balance assessment, including falls risk index, to determine the changes induced by the training was performed four times (before and after both training programmes) with the use of the Balance System SD platform by Biodex. We observed a significant improvement of balance, particularly in trials with eyes open, for both types of training and for the whole period of intervention. The risk of falls index decreased significantly, too. We found that the different type of exercise in regard to movement structure and to the type of impact influenced individual balance indices (overall stability index, anterior/posterior stability index, medial/lateral stability index) in slightly different ways. This may be a premise for designing intervention programmes targeted at falls prevention in older adults. Moreover, it turned out that the balance levels can be trained even in physically active subjects.