Efficacy of home based exercise program and postural biofeedback therapy in reducing risk of falling among osteoporotic women over 65 years of age

Introduction: We aimed to investigate the effects of home-based vestibular exercise and biofeedback training on balance, fall risk, functional mobility, emotional state and quality of life among osteoporotic women. Materials and Method: Sixty osteoporotic women aged over 65 were randomized to four groups of 15 people: home-based vestibular exercise, biofeedback training, vestibular exercise+biofeedback training and control group. Training programs were performed in all groups. Biofeedback training was performed in 20 minute sessions,10 sessions a month. Vestibular exercises were prescribed once daily with 10 repetitions for one month. Fall risk obtained by Tetrax, Berg balance test, Timed Up-and- Go test, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire were evaluated at the beginning and the end of the study. Results: Compared to the control group, statistically significant improvements in fall risk, balance, GDS scores and physical function, role emotional and general health subgroups of SF-36 test were observed in all of the intervention groups (p<0.05). Subjects treated with both biofeedback and vestibular exercise exhibited significantly greater improvements in fall risk and balance compared with those treated with vestibular rehabilitation alone (p