A review of the effect of using exercise training in the elderly

Background: Elderly is associated with decreasing neuromuscular function, muscular mass, strength, endurance and movement. One of the problems that occurs with aging is reducing the balance. The poor balance is the main cause of falling and its related damages in the elderly. Falling can be the cause of most fractures, especially femoral neck fractures, followed by loss of individual autonomy and long-term impotence in these individuals. Therefore falling is an important factor in determining the quality of life of the elderly. Hence, it seems maintaining muscle strength, balance, and walking ability can decrease falling. The purpose of this review study is to provide evidence that the exercise program has an impact on falling in the elderly.Materials and Methods: Searching for articles was performed in Pubmed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science Direct databases. Key words: Elderly, Falls, Exercise, Balance were used for published articles between 2000 and 2018.Results: 93 articles were found to be relevant. 11 studies were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Different training methods such as endurance, flexibility, balance and resistance in one or more area were performed in this articles. Exercise components varied across studies in character, duration, frequency, intensity and the kind of exercise.Conclusion: The results of this review indicated that exercise programs were effective in reducing the risk of falling. Therefore exercise interventions may offer an effective strategy for improving health, quality of life and reducing health care costs in the elderly. However how much exercise is needed to achieve maximal effects is unclear yet. Thus further studies are needed to determine the optimal relationship between patient characteristics, exercise duration, frequency and intensity.