The Comparison of Effectiveness of Mindfulness, Balance and Combined Exercises on the Balance and Fear of Falling in the Elderly

Although the phenomenon of aging cannot be stopped, the disorders and disabilities of this period can be prevented or postponed through proper planning and the use of methods and principled cares. Therefore, this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness, balance and combined exercises (balance-mindfulness) on the balance and fear of falling in the elderly. The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population included all the elderly living in Mashhad, Iran with balance problem or fear of falling. Participants included 48 elderly women (60 to 79 years old) who were randomly assigned into four groups of 12 people. In order to collect data, the international falling efficiency questionnaire and Berg’s balance test were used. Univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the data in SPSS-20 and Excel 2013 software. The findings revealed that compared to control group, all three training methods of mindfulness, balance, and the combination of mindfulness-balance had a significant effect on balance performance and fear of falling in the elderly women, as such, increased the balance and reduced the fear of falling. Besides, the findings indicated that there is a significant difference between the mindfulness, balance and combined methods in terms of their effectiveness on balance performance and fear of falling in the elderly women. In this sense, the combined exercise, mindfulness and balance methods had a greater effect on improving balance and reducing the fear of falling, respectively. Therefore, in order to improve the level of motor (balance) and psychological (fear of falling) indicators affecting the performance of the elderly women, it is recommended to use a combination of balance exercises and mindfulness, considering the characteristics of exercise.