[Prevention of falls in elderly osteoporotic women: conception and effects of an intervention program]

Falls can result in physical injuries as well as anxieties about falling and decreases in physical activities. For elderly osteoporotic people falls are a serious problem. In the progression of impairment the loss of bone density decreases the resistance of bone structure. Prevention of falls is therefore an important task for patients with osteoporosis. Numerous studies document the positive effects of physical activities and exercise on muscular strength, on balance, and gait; other studies focussed on the efficacy of intervention programs in consideration of the use of medication. But the studies did not consider the specific situation of osteoporotic people. In our study we focussed on the strengthening of sensorimotor functions, which can be expected in a short period of time and may therefore motivate for long-term intervention programs to increase bone density. This program was applied to a sample of 42 osteoporotic women with an average age of 66 participating in a training program for 90 minutes once a week over a period of 10 weeks. The effectiveness of the program was assessed by a battery including differential sensorimotor functions. Regarding the initial test results, there were only small differences between the study sample and a control group tested with the identical assessment. We used a pre-post-training design which enabled us to control the effects of the training program. Sensorimotor functions were tested three times: 3 months before the program started, at the beginning and at the end of the intervention program. The significant improvements from the first to the second testing were most likely due to repeated measurement. Further significant improvements, measured at the end of the program, can be interpreted as effects of the training. We conclude that sensorimotor functions of elderly with osteoporosis could be trained effectively in a rather short time.