Comparison of the Effect of Functional and Balance Exercises on Fear of Falling and Quality of Life in the Elderly

Fear of falling reduces the independence and dependence of the elderly and leads to negative consequences such as reduced activities of daily living (ADL), reduced physical activity, and lower quality of life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effect of 8 weeks of functional and balance exercises on the fear of falling and the quality of life of the elderly.

The current research was semi-experimental (interventional) with a pre-test and post-test design. For this research, a total of 60 elderly individuals over the age of 65 were randomly selected using codes that were pre-written by a research colleague on special sheets. The participants were divided into two groups: functional exercises (30 people) with an average age of 66, and balance exercises (30 people) with an average age of 65. Two groups performed the exercises for eight weeks, with three 1- hour sessions each week. The International Form of Fear of Falling was used to measure the fear of falling, and the Lipad Quality of Life questionnaire assessed the quality of life. Data analysis was done with SPSS software, version 23. Independent t-tests and dependent t-tests were used to determine the difference between the pre-test and post-test, between groups and within groups, respectively, at a significant level of p < 0.05.

Intra- group comparison in both groups showed a significant difference between the mean fear of falling and quality of life in the elderly in the pre-test and post-test (P = 0.001). However, in the comparison between groups in the pre-test (P = 0.884) and post-test (P = 0.566), fear of falling, and in the pre-test (P = 0.507) and post-test (P = 0.603), quality of life was not significantly different between the two groups.

According to the findings of this study, it seems that functional and balance exercises reduce the fear of falling and increase the quality of life of the elderly.