The Effect of Romberg Exercise on Falling Episodes of Elderlies With History of Past Fallings

Objectives: To investigate the effect of Romberg exercise on balance improvement in elderly persons, 70 elderly persons with the history of two or more falling during recent 3 months were selected from Kahrizak nursing home in Tehran (38 as cases and 32 as controls). Methods & Materials : Romberg exercise was done in case group every day (45 minute per day and one time each day) for 3 months. Among all persons, 28 persons in case group and 21 persons in control group were followed for 6 months and incidence and frequency of falling were assessed during this time. Results: The Incidence of one or more falling in case and control groups was 31.3% and 47.6% in men and 57.9% and 27.3% in women, respectively. We found no significant relation between gender and the incidence of falling (P=0.460). Also, no significant relation was found between age and incidence (P=0.554) and frequency of falling (P=0.144) in elderly persons. Conclusion: Although the effect of Romberg exercise on improvement of balance disturbance and falling was not demonstrated, it needs additional studies with larger sample size and longer follow-up.