Effects of exercise intervention on falls and balance function in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To systematically review the effects of an exercise intervention on falls and balance function in older adults (aged > 60 years) without diagnosed diseases.

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CNKI databases were searched for randomized controlled trials about exercise intervention on falls and balance function in older adults. Use Review Manager 5.4 to test the risk bias in the included literature, and use Stata17 for publication bias test, sensitivity analysis, combining effect sizes, forest plots, and subgroup analysis.

A total of 37 randomized controlled trials were included, and meta-analysis showed that after the exercise intervention in the intervention group, there was a significant increase in the Modified Fall Efficacy Scale (MFES) score (g = 1.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.63-1.40], P = 0.00), the number of falls (odds ratio (OR) = 0.32, 95% CI [0.20-0.51], P = 0.00), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score (g = 0.92, 95% CI [0.63-1.21], P = 0.00) and Timed Up and Go Test (g = -0.62, 95% CI [-0.80, -0.45], P = 0.00) indices improved better than the control group. Subgroup analysis showed that single exercise time > 30 min, 3 times per week for 12-23 weeks was the better intervention for fall efficacy in older adults, and single exercise time ≤ 30 min, 3 times per week for ≥ 24 weeks was the better intervention for balance function in older adults.

Exercise intervention can enhance fall efficacy, reduce the number of falls, and improve balance function in older adults, and have a certain preventive effect on falls. Single exercise time, exercise frequency and exercise cycle are important factors affecting the effectiveness of exercise intervention. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier: CRD42024590937.