TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - Participating in a virtual reality balance exercise program can reduce risk and fear of falls
JO  - Maturitas
A1  - Singh, Devinder K. A.
A1  - Rajaratnam, Bala S.
A1  - Palaniswamy, Vijayakumar
A1  - Pearson, Hannah
A1  - Raman, Vimal P.
A1  - Bong, Pei Sien
SP  - 239
EP  - 243
VL  - 73
IS  - 3
N2  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to quantify the effectiveness of virtual reality balance games (VRBG) to decrease risk and fear of falls among women. METHODS: Thirty six community dwelling women aged 56 and above were randomly divided into experimental (exercises using VRBG focus on improving balance) and control (conventional balance exercises) groups. Both groups attended a twice 6 weekly exercise session for an hour. Risk and fear of falls were measured with Physiological Profile Approach (PPA) and Activity Specific Balance Scale (ABC-6). Pre and post intervention differences between the groups were examined using two way repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: Both VRBG and conventional balance exercise groups had significant decrease in PPA (p<0.001) and ABC-6 (p<0.01) after the interventions. However, no significant effects were demonstrated between the groups in PPA (p=0.18) and ABC-6 (p=0.25) post intervention. Time and group interaction effect were not significant for PPA (p=0.18) and ABC-6 (p=0.45). CONCLUSIONS: Practising VRBG can increase balance confidence and decrease risk of falls among community dwelling women.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0378-5122
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2012.07.011
ID  - ref1
ER  -