The Effect of Active Physical Training Interventions on Reactive Postural Responses in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: A variety of physical interventions have been used to improve reactive balance in older adults.

PURPOSE: To summarize the effectiveness of active treatment approaches to improve reactive postural responses in community-dwelling older adults.

DESIGN: Systematic Review, guided by PRISMA guidelines.

STUDY SELECTION: A literature search included databases of PubMed, OVID, CINAHL, Clinicaltrials.gov, OTseeker, and PEDro up to December 2017. RCTs that evaluated quantitative measures of reactive postural responses in healthy adults following participation in an active physical training program were included.

DATA SYNTHESIS: Of 4,481 studies initially identified, 11 RCTs covering 313 participants were selected for analysis. Study designs were heterogeneous, preventing a quantitative analysis. Nine of the eleven studies reported improvements in reactive postural responses.

CONCLUSIONS: Several clinically-feasible training methods have the potential to improve reactive postural responses in older adults; however, conclusions surrounding efficacy of treatment methods are limited due to numerous methodological issues and heterogeneity in outcomes and intervention procedures.