Comparison of effects of Otago exercise program vs gaze stability exercise on balance and fear of fall in older adults: A randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Fall occurrences and the associated risk of injury are debilitating and major health concerns in the older population. Several interventions have been investigated and implemented to address the needs of balance impairments and to reduce the increased risk of falls. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the Otago exercise program (OEP) and gaze stability exercises (GSE) on balance and the risk of falls in older adults residing at an old age home facility. METHODS: Thirty elderly participants were equally and randomly divided into 2 groups: Group OEP received the OEP, and group GSE received GSE for 8 weeks (thrice a week). In addition, both groups also performed core muscle-strengthening exercises. The outcome measures were the Berg balance scale (BBS) and the Fall efficacy scale-International (FES-I). RESULTS: The interventions resulted in significant improvements (P < .001) in both outcome measures in both groups. The mean pretest BBS scores of groups OEP and GSE increased from 40.4 and 39.2 to the mean post-test scores of 48 and 45.2, respectively. Similarly, the mean pretest FES-I scores of groups OEP and GSE also improved from 39.47 and 40.4 to the mean post-test scores of 32.73 and 36.07. The between-group comparison showed greater improvement (P < .05) in OEP group in both variables. CONCLUSIONS: OEP and GSE were found to be beneficial rehabilitation programs in improving balance and fear of falls in healthy older adults. However, the OEP was found to be a more effective intervention and may allow better balance and fall prevention improvements. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study has been registered in clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT05781776; on 23/03/2023).

Efficacy of FIFA 11+ training program on functional performance in amateur male soccer players.

BACKGROUND: The FIFA-Medical and Assessment Research Centre developed FIFA 11+ program as a warm-up program for soccer players. Although the FIFA 11+ program is a well-established warm-up protocol for injury prevention among soccer players, the program's performance enhancement aspect is not frequently discussed in the literature. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of the FIFA 11+ training program on functional performance in amateur male soccer players. METHODS: The study included 57 amateur male soccer players from Jamia Hamdard University, who were randomly placed in an experimental group (n= 29) or a control group (n= 28). The experimental group underwent the FIFA 11+ training program for 12 weeks (five times per week) and the control group continued their regular training. The study adopted a pretest-posttest design. The outcome measurements included the following tests: vertical jump, 20-yard sprint run, Illinois agility run test, and t-tests. RESULTS: Vertical jump and sprint speed were significantly improved in the FIFA 11+ program group compared to the control group (p< 0.05). No statistically significant difference in agility parameters (p> 0.05) was found between the groups. CONCLUSION: The results show that the FIFA 11+ program may improve the performance of young amateur soccer players. This study may serve as the foundation for further studies with larger participant numbers.