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Focal muscle vibration as a possible intervention to prevent falls in elderly women: a pragmatic randomized
Claudia Celletti1, Luigi Fattorini2, Filippo Camerota3
1Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Division, Umberto I Hospital, Sapienza University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy. clacelletti@gmail.com.
Backgrounds:
Different and new approaches have been proposed to prevent the risk of falling of elderly people, particularly women.
Aims:
This study investigates the possibility that a new protocol based on the focal mechanical muscle vibration may reduce the risk of falling of elderly women.
Methods:
A pragmatic randomized controlled triple-blind trial with a 6-month follow-up after intervention randomized 350 women (mean age 73.4 years + 3.11), members of local senior citizen centers in Rome, into two groups: vibrated group (VG) and control group (CG). For VG participants a mechanical vibration (lasting 10 min) was focally applied on voluntary contracted quadriceps muscles, three times a day during three consecutive days. CG subjects received a placebo vibratory stimulation. Subjects were tested immediately before (T0) and 30 (T1) and 180 (T2) days after the intervention with the Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) test. All subjects were asked not to change their lifestyle during the study. CG underwent sham vibratory treatment.
Results:
While CG did not show any statistically significant change of POMA at T1 and T2, VG revealed significant differences. At T2, ≈47% of the subjects who completed the study obtained the full score on the POMA test and ≈59% reached the full POMA score.
Conclusions:
The new protocol seems to be promising in reducing the risk of falling of elderly subjects.
