Follow-up efficacy of physical exercise interventions on fall incidence and fall risk in healthy older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The risk of falling and associated injuries increases with age. Therefore, the prevention of falls is a key priority in geriatrics and is particularly based on physical exercising, aiming to improve the age-related decline in motor performance, which is crucial in response to postural threats. Although the benefits and specifications of effective exercise programs have been well documented in pre-post design studies, that is during the treatment, the definitive retention and transfer of these fall-related exercise benefits to the daily life fall risk during follow-up periods remains largely unclear. Accordingly, this meta-analysis investigates the efficacy of exercise interventions on the follow-up risk of falling. Methods A systematic database search was conducted. A study was considered eligible if it examined the number of falls (fall rate) and fallers (fall risk) of healthy older adults (≥ 65 years) during a follow-up period after participating in a randomized controlled physical exercise intervention. The pooled estimates of the fall rate and fall risk ratios were calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis. Furthermore, the methodological quality and the risk of bias were assessed. Results Twenty-six studies with 31 different intervention groups were included (4739 participants). The number of falls was significantly ( p