High-frequency whole-body vibration improves balancing ability in elderly women.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of high-frequency whole-body vibration (WBV) on balancing ability in elderly women. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. Subjects were randomized to either the WBV intervention or the no-treatment control group. SETTING Community-living elderly women. PARTICIPANTS Sixty-nine elderly women aged 60 or above without habitual exercise. INTERVENTION Side alternating WBV at 20Hz with 3 minutes a day and 3 days a week for 3 months in the WBV intervention group. Those in control group remained sedentary with normal daily life for the whole study period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Limits of stability in terms of reaction time, movement velocity, directional control, endpoint excursion, maximum excursion, and the functional reach test were performed at baseline and endpoint. RESULTS Significant enhancement of stability was detected in movement velocity (P<.01), maximum point excursion (P<.01), in directional control (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS WBV was effective in improving the balancing ability in elderly women. This also provides evidence to support our user-friendly WBV treatment protocol of 3 minutes a day for the elderly to maintain their balancing ability and reduce risks of fall.