Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of exercise on fall prevention in nursing home residents.
Background: Nursing home residents have a high risk of falling. No conclusive evidence exists on the effectiveness of exercise on fall prevention in nursing home residents.
Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Data resources: Databases of PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and China Biology Medicine were searched from inception to March 2017, with no language limitation.
Review methods: The review was conducted according to the guidelines of the Cochrane Collaboration. Studies on exercise interventions to prevent falls in nursing home residents were eligible. The primary outcome was the odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals of falls.
Results: Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis where exercise was compared with daily routine, social activities, and other methods in preventing falls. About falls, the pooled effect size of seven studies showed that exercise had no effect on fall prevention in nursing home residents. There was low heterogeneity. No significant publication bias was observed.
Conclusions: The results of the systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that exercise did not play a role in preventing falls. Further studies with high quality and larger samples are required to support or counter the results.
Keywords: accidental falls; exercise; nursing homes; prevention; systematic review.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.