Efficacy of whole body vibration exercise in older people: a systematic review

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature on whole body vibration programs in older population and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials. Method: A search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL and PsychINFO databases. We included randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of whole body vibration training in older populations compared to conventional exercise or control groups that assessed balance, muscle strength, falls, bone mineral density and adverse events. Results: Sixteen trials met the inclusion criteria. Comparing the vibration and the control group, we found that vibration significantly improved knee muscle isometric strength (18.30 Nm, 95% CI 7.95–28.65), muscle power (10.44  W, 95% CI 2.85–18.03) and balance control (Tinetti test: 4.5 points, 95% CI 0.95–8.11). Comparison with a conventional exercise showed that the only significant difference was bone mineral density in the femoral neck (0.04 g/cm–2, 95% CI 0.02–0.07). There were no serious complications in most of studies. Conclusion: Whole body vibration training may improve strength, power and balance in comparison with a control group, although these effects are not apparent when compared with a group that does conventional exercise.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Physical exercise is effective for improving balancing and walking, muscle strength in the legs, and cardiovascular resistance, and decreasing the risk of falling in older persons.

• Whole body vibration training can decrease the risk of falling related to muscle weakness or balance disorders in older people when compared with a control group, although these effects are not apparent when compared with a conventional exercise.

• Evidence is not conclusive to assess the effect of whole body vibration training on the incidence of falls.

• Safety concerns related to whole body vibration have not been identified.

Keywords::

• Accidental falls
• aged
• bone mineral density
• exercise
• muscle strength
• postural balance

Acknowledgments

The corresponding author is a Phd candidate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Carolyn Newey for her assistance and inestimable help in the editing process of the manuscript. We also thank Ivan Solà, from Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, for his support in the literature searching and retrieving and Ferran Rey Abella, PhD, from Blanquerna School of Health Science (Universitat Ramon Llull), for his expertise in different methods of muscular strength. We also thank the Blanquerna School of Health Science (Universitat Ramon Llull) for their support to the first author, providing her a special leave to work on her thesis.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflict of interests.

Appendix

Appendix 1.  Search strategies from different databases (before May 2010).