Long-term home exercise program: Effect in women at high risk of fracture

Abstract

<h2>Abstract</h2> Kerschan-Schindl K, Uher E, Kainberger F, Kaider A, Ghanem A-H, Preisinger E. Long-term home exercise program: Effect in women at high risk of fracture. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2000;81:319-23. <b>Objective:</b> To determine whether a better outcome in terms of physical frailty could be achieved with a regular home exercise program in women at high risk of fracture. <b>Design:</b> Prospective long-term observational study. <b>Setting:</b> Outpatient clinic of physical medicine and rehabilitation. <b>Participants:</b> Women with a history of postmenopausal fractures and an age-adjusted low bone mass, as determined 7 to 12 years earlier. <b>Intervention:</b> Home exercise program. <b>Outcome Measures:</b> Thirty-three women were followed. The exercise group and control group were compared with regard to fracture rates, episodes of falling, neuromuscular performance (one-leg stance, chair rise, body sway, tandem walk, tapping test), and bone mineral density (BMD). <b>Results:</b> Twenty-five women with a mean age of 73.8 ± 5.7yrs appeared for the investigation. An exercise program had been prescribed in 19 women, and six served as controls. Seven women of the exercise group (36.8%) regularly performed the exercises. No differences between participants of the groups in terms of fracture rates, falling episodes, neuromuscular performance, and BMD were observed. <b>Conclusion:</b> It appears that a home exercise program does not affect the outcome of postmenopausal women at high risk of fracture. <i>© 2000 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation</i>