Music-Exercise Program May Help Elderly Avoid Falls

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via Alzheimer's Daily News

Music-Exercise Program May Help Elderly Avoid Falls

(Source: MedPage Today) - A music-based exercise program for the elderly led to

improvements in gait and balance and reduced the incidence of falls, a Swiss

study found.

Among a group of community-dwelling seniors, gait variability - stride-to-stride

fluctuations in walking associated with an increased risk of falls - was reduced

Dr. Trombetti, University Hospitals in Geneva and colleagues, reported.

134 volunteers participated in the exercise program. Most were women with a mean

age of 75.5 years.

The improvement in stride length variability was seen even when participants did

dual-task exercises, such as walking and counting backwards from 50, to the

accompaniment of piano music. Improvements also were seen on single-task

exercises, such as the one-legged stance task.

However, in a second trial, a multimedia education program failed to reduce the

rate of falls among elderly hospitalized patients - particularly among those

with cognitive impairment.

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