Author(s): Dr. Mansi Bidja, Dr. Khushboo Valodwala and Dr. Sneha Sailor

Abstract:
Fear of falling in elderly is a major cause of loss of independence, which has an effect on the physical function in elderly individuals. Impaired balance is another important public health problem for older adults, because fear of fall might have devastating consequences, such as an increase in mortality. QOL of older adults has become an important issue, because of demographic changes resulting from the ageing of the population. The aim was to compare the effects of Pilates and pressure biofeedback on dynamic balance, and QoL in elderly individual.The sample consisted of 62 elderly people of age between 65 years to 75 years (mean = 71.96, SD± 5.92) were taken in the study. The group A subjects were asked to perform Pilates and group B performed pressure biofeedback exercises programme. Both the groups received conventional therapy. Dynamic balance was assessed using the POMA scale and Qol was assessed by using WHOQOL-BREEF. Pre and post test scoring of POMA and WHOQOL-BREEF was conducted for the Group A and Group B after 6 weeks.Analysis was done using SPSS Software version18. Descriptive analysis was used to calculate mean and standard deviation. Paired t test was used for inter group analysis. Independent t test was used for intra group analysis for all the dependent variables. The level of significance was set at 95%.The results of this study shows that both Pilates as well as pressure biofeedback program leads to significant improvement in dynamic balance and QoL in elderly individuals. However Pilates shows greater benefits compared to Pressure biofeedback intervention for all variables.

Pages: 432-435  |  814 Views  122 Downloads