Comparison of specific and comprehensive balance exercises at home based on the balance performance of elderly men

Introduction: So far, studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of exercise elderly people, Evaluation of the components of balance and the disorders of these components and its effects on the type of balance training provided to the elderly have received less attention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare two types of specific and comprehensive balance exercises at home on balance indices in elderly men. Methods: Forty healthy young elderly people between the ages of 60 and 75 were randomly divided into one of three groups: specific training (13 people), comprehensive training  (14 people) and control group (13 people). Evaluation of balance component disorder was measured by BEStest from participants in all three groups. In specific Group One balance exercises were presented based on the assessment of disorder in balance components. The exercises presented to the comprehensive group were without regard to the evaluation of individuals. Timed Up and Go Test, Single leg stance test and Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale were measured before and after training and after one month of follow-up from all participants. Data were analyzed using Repeated measures analysis of variance at a significance level of P = 0.05 by SPSS software. Results: The results showed that specific and comprehensive balance training programs can have positive effects on the pre-test-post-test stages in Timed Up and Go Test (P = 0.001), Single leg stance test (P = 0.001) and Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale (P = 0.001). Also, follow-up of the results after one month from the end of the research in the post-test-follow-up phase in three balance indices showed significant and positive effects. Conclusion: The final results of the present study showed that both specific and comprehensive exercises at home can have positive and lasting effects on improving balance indices in healthy elderly men.