ABSTRACT

Background: Falls and resulting injuries have become one of the most serious health issues for elderly. Studies have shown the effectiveness of gaze stability exercise and Otago exercise program on balance and fall risk reduction respectively in elderly people. So far their combined effectiveness has not been studied. Objective: To find the combined effect of gaze stability exercise and Otago exercise program on improving balance and reducing fall risk in elderly people.

Method: 30 subjects with age group 65- 75 participated in this study. Subjects were divided into two equal groups with 15 samples in each. Group A performed gaze stability exercises and Otago exercise program along with conventional exercise and Group B performed conventional exercise alone. Both groups performed the exercises for two months. The outcome was measured before and after the treatment using Berg Balance Scale and Dynamic Gait Index. Statistical analysis was done using Wilcoxon and Mann- Whitney U test.

Result: Based on the statistical analysis, the result of the present study shows that there is a statistically significant difference in balance and fall risk between pre-test and post-test in both experimental and control group(p<0.000). Experimental group shows greater improvement in balance on BBS and reduction in fall risk on DGI than the control group in elderly people.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence about the combined effectiveness of gaze stability exercise and Otago Exercise program in improving balance and reducing fall risk in elderly people.

Keywords: Berg Balance Scale, Dynamic Gait Index, Gaze stability exercises,Otago exercise program