The Effect of WBV on Balance, Mobility and Strength in Aging Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Whole body vibration (WBV) exposure in elderly adults is found to increase physical activity and so the overall health status. For analyzing effects of WBV on muscle power, balance and overall mobility among elderly adults of age more than 60 years, comprehensive article search was performed from year 2013 till January 2017 on electronic databases of Medley, Google scholar and IEEE (institute of electrical and electronic engineering), search strategy and inclusion criteria was specified initially and then articles were recruited accordingly. Randomized controlled trails targeting WBV effects, compared to control group with some moderate exercise or no intervention at all, on muscle power, balance and mobility were studied and data extracted about author name, publication year, age and number of participants, WBV parameters, protocols of study, vibrating platform, description and comparison among interventions. Initially 656 records were identified in preliminary search through the databases, four studies finally were considered as eligible. Lower body muscle strength (14.8 ± 3.3 to 16.5 ± 3.6) and upper body strength (17.9 ± 4.5 to 20.3 ± 3.6) have shown significant results in all the studies. Improvement in balance and mobility was also significant with P<0.005 in comparison with control groups with no interventions. WBV alone or combined with exercise training program seems to improve muscle strength, overall balance and increased mobility among elder adults. Direct comparison among studies was not possible because of differences among parameters and study protocols. More extensive and well-designed research is still needed to establish efficacy and to understand the effects and influences more clearly.

Stochastic Resonance Training Improves Balance and Musculoskeletal Well-Being in Office Workers: A Controlled Preventive Intervention Study

“…Compared to conventional balance trainings, SR-WBV exercise has many advantages as no warm-up, cool down, or training clothes are needed [ 35 ]. As SR-WBV exercise takes only a short time and no effort from participants, compliance rates for SR-WBV exercises are higher than with other worksite activity program [ 19 ]. Therefore, it seems ideal for the working context.…”

“…While evidence for long-lasting vibration frequency at work, as a risk factor for musculoskeletal diseases, is substantial [ 15 ], further research showed beneficial training effects of brief vibration experience [ 16 , 17 ]. As described by Elfering et al [ 18 ], “SR-WBV is low in nonmonetary effort when compared to conventional exercise: SR-WBV has very short exercising duration (about 10 minutes), is easily carried out in work settings, and no change of clothes is necessary.” Compliance rates with SR-WBV are higher than with other worksite activity programs, because it is less time consuming and can be performed easily and no physical exertion happens [ 19 ].…”

Mechanische Schwingungstherapie in der Orthopädischen Rehabilitation

“…Es wird über eine optimierte Regeneration nach körperlichem Training [7,[19][20][21], eine gesteigerte Muskelfunktion [22][23][24] und ein verbessertes Gleichgewicht [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] berichtet. Häufige klinische WBV-Anwendungen mit orthopädischen Hintergrund sind v. a. bei älteren PatientInnen und Frauen mit Osteoporose, Arthritis, Frakturen, Rücken-/Hüft-/Kniebeschwerden, neurologischen Erkrankungen oder Schmerzen zu finden, um die neuromuskuläre Leistungsfähigkeit, Stabilität und Mobilität positiv zu beeinflussen [8,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

Vibrating Exercise Equipment in Middle-Age and Older Women with Chronic Low Back Pain and Effects on Bioelectrical Activity, Range of Motion and Pain Intensity: A Randomized, Single-Blinded Sham Intervention Study

“…The use of vibration stimuli in medicine and rehabilitation is becoming increasingly popular [ 12 ]. Vibration provides a strong proprioceptive stimulus [ 13 ] which can improve body balance and gait re-education in older adults [ 14 , 15 ], and can reduce pain by stimulating the afferent alpha and beta motoneurons and inhibiting nociceptive pain fibers [ 16 ]. Vibration stimuli have been shown to lead to improvements in muscle strength [ 17 ] and muscle mass [ 18 , 19 ], a reduction in obesity [ 20 ], and an improvement of gait in neurological patients [ 21 , 22 ].…”