Effects of Whole-Body Vibration Training on Low Extremity Muscle Strength and Mobility in the Elderly:A Me-ta-Analysis / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) training on low extremity muscle strength and mobility in older adults by a meta-analysis. Methods Articles were searched from Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMbase, Elsevier, CBMdisc, Wanfang database and CNKI database, and the reference list of each eligible article were also included. Randomized controlled trials which investigated the effect of WBV on mobility and low extremity muscle strength were included in this article. The meth-odological quality of each selected article was rated by the Jadad Scale. The data on patients' characteristics, type of WBV intervention and outcomes were extracted. A meta-analysis was then performed. Results 15 randomized controlled trials involving 803 subjects were includ-ed finally. 8 were considered to have good or excellent methodological quality and the rest was rated as fair. Meta-analyses revealed that WBV had a significant treatment effect on leg extension isometric strength (MD=10.11, 95%CI 0.46-19.76), knee extension dynamic strength (MD=7.98, 95%CI 2.60-13.36), and functional measures of mobility such as performance in Timed-Up-and-Go test (MD=1.39, 95%CI 0.73-2.04), and performance in five times sit to stand test (MD=1.62, 95%CI 0.25-2.98) (P0.05), among older adults compared with the control group. Conclusion WBV may be effective on improving the low extremity muscle strength and mobility among older adults.