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<0.05).
Conclusion: Vestibular home-based exercises, biofeedback training and combination of the two are effective in reducing risk of falling, and improving balance, functional mobility, emotional state and quality of life. Adding biofeedback therapy to vestibular exercises enhances its efficacy in reducing risk of falls and improving balance. The shortness of the treatment period and lack of information on long term effects of the treatment were the limitations of our study.
Keywords : Fall Risk; Osteoporosis; Vestibular Exercise; Biofeedback; Psychology/instrumentation