Comparison of the Effects of Home-Based Functional Exercises and Pilates on Fear of Falling in Elderly Women with and without a History of Falls

Objective Fear of falling is a common and serious concern among the elderly.This study aimed to compare the effects of home-based functional exercises and Pilates on the level of fear of falling in elderly women with and without a history of falls.Methods Forty elderly women aged 70 to 80 were randomly assigned to four groups:(1) home-based functional exercise with a history of falls, (2) home-based functional exercise without a history of falls, (3) Pilates exercise with a history of falls, and (4) Pilates exercise without a history of falls.The interventions included a 12-week Pilates program and an 8-week functional exercise program.A history of falls was determined based on incidents reported within the past year.Fear of falling was assessed using the International Fall Complications Questionnaire.Data were analyzed using univariate ANCOVA for between-group comparisons and paired ttests for within-group comparisons, conducted with SPSS version 23.Results Between-group comparisons revealed significant differences in fear of falling between the Pilates and functional exercise groups, in both participants with and without a history of falls (p = 0.001).Post-intervention analysis showed a significant reduction in fear of falling after eight weeks in the functional exercise group with a history of falls (p = 0.005), as well as in the Pilates groups and the functional exercise group without a history of falls (p = 0.001).Conclusion Both Pilates and home-based functional exercises significantly reduced fear of falling in elderly women, regardless of fall history.Further studies with longer durations are recommended to better assess the preventive role of Pilates in reducing fall risk.