Exercise interventions and prevention of fall-related fractures in older people: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Background: This meta-analysis aimed to determine whether exercise interventions were effective in preventing fall-related fractures in older people. The treatment effects on rate of falls, leg strength and balance were also examined.

Methods: An electronic database search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane library and PEDro up to 1 September 2015. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that conducted exercise interventions and reported fall-related fracture data in older people were included. The primary outcome was the treatment effects on fall-related fractures determined by relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The treatment effects on falls, leg strength and balance were also reported using rate ratio (RaR) with 95% CI and standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% CI, respectively. Random effects models were used for meta-analysis.

Results: Fifteen studies including 3136 participants met the inclusion criteria. Exercise had a beneficial effect on reduction of fall-related fractures, with pooled estimates of RR 0.604 (95% CI 0.453 - 0.840, P = 0.003, I 2 = 0%). The rate of falls (RaR 0.856, 95% CI 0.778 - 0.941, P = 0.001, I 2 = 45%) and leg strength (SMD 0.613, 95% CI 0.119 - 1.107, P = 0.015, I 2 = 76.7%) were also potentially affected by exercise interventions. These only had a marginally beneficial effect on balance (SMD 0.468, 95% CI -0.011 - 0.947, P = 0.055, I 2 = 93.6%).

Conclusions: Our findings implied that exercise interventions were effective in preventing fall-related fractures and reducing risk factors of fall-related fractures in older people.

Keywords: Exercise; fractures; older people.