The effectiveness of dual task balance training in geriatric population: A QUASI EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

BACKGROUND: Balance issues, which are more prevalent in older persons than in younger people, are one of the obstacles that come with ageing. Falls are a major public health concern because they are a primary cause of death and functional disability in older people. Dual-task training (DTT) have been showed that have satisfying effects on older adults. OBJECTIVES: To find the effect of dual task training on balance limitations in geriatric population. METHODOLOGY: A total of 66 patients were selected based on the inclusion criteria of both male and female participants, age more than 65 years, past one year fall history and no neurological problem. 61 out of 66 completed the research, with 5 people dropping out of the study. Out of these 61 patients (28 were males and 33 were females with a mean age of 69 years±4.073). The Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT) and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) scores were checked pre and post exercise application for any improvement in all the 61 patients. Data of 61 participants after a period of 4 weeks was obtained. The data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Wilcoxon signed ranks test was applied to compare baseline TUGT and BBS with follow up score. RESULTS: The mean pre TUGT was 16.98 seconds and mean post TUGT was 15.77 seconds and the mean pre BBS was 41 and post BBS was 50 at 95% confidence interval. The results were clinically not significant because the effect size was very small to be noticed, but were statistically significant as was shown p < 0.05. CONCLUSION: After comparison of the results of this study with other research studies, it was concluded that though the results were statistically significant, they lacked clinical significance. KEYWORDS: Core Stability, Geriatrics, Postural balance, Treatment Effectiveness