Table 1.
Overview of included studies that administered perturbation‐based balance training to older adults
| Study | Design | Participants | Perturbation type | Protocol | Falls monitoring | Main outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mansfield et al 19 | RCT | Healthy, n = 16, 70.3 years (4.7 years) | Moveable platform in four directions | 3 × 30 min/week for 6 weeks | Prospective for 1 year | No significant differences in falls incidence, but not powered for this measure |
| Pai et al 31 | RCT | Healthy, n = 67, 72 years (5.5 years) | Moveable platform simulating a slip | 1 session of 24 slips | Prospective for 1 year | Intervention led to a significant decrease (34% to 15%) in falls incidence, no change in the control group |
| Rosenblatt et al 32 | RCT | Healthy, n = 82, 65.4 years (7.8 years) | Treadmill belt accelerations during standing | 4 × 1 h over 2 weeks | Prospective for 1 year | Significantly fewer (17 vs 31) likely preventable trip‐related falls (17) in the intervention group compared to control group |
| Lurie et al 34 | Randomized pilot study | High risk, n = 26, 81.1 years (6.53 years) | Treadmill belt accelerations and decelerations during standing and walking | 5.84 sessions of 44.25 min (means) | Retrospective: 3 months preceding and 3 months after the intervention | Non‐significant difference in PBT group experiencing falls (19% vs 33%) and injurious falls (8% vs 18%) compared with controls |
| Shimada et al 33 | RCT | High risk, n = 15, 81.8 years (5.9 years) † | Treadmill belt decelerations during walking | 600 min of PBT over 6 months | Prospective for 6 months | Non‐statistically significant decrease (21%) in falls in the PBT group |
| Protas et al 35 | RCT | Parkinson's disease, n = 9, 71.3 years (7.4 years) | Treadmill belt accelerations during standing while facing and sideways | 3× per week for 8 weeks. | Prospective: 2 weeks preceding and 2 weeks after the intervention | The PBT group experienced a significant reduction in falls in the 2 weeks after the training period, in comparison to the 2 weeks before the training |
| Shen and Mak36 | RCT | Parkinson's disease, n = 22, 63.3 years (8.0 years) | Treadmill belt accelerations during stance and therapist pushes during walking | 3–5× per week for 12 weeks of balance training incorporating PBT | Prospective: 12 months after the intervention | Significantly fewer falls during follow up in the PBT group than in the control group |
| Smania et al 37 | RCT | Parkinson's disease, n = 28, 67.64 years (7.41 years) | Standing on foam and moveable platforms while a therapist pulled the participant | 3 × 50mins of balance training with PBT, per week for 7 weeks | Retrospective: 1 month preceding, during and 1 month after the intervention | Significant reduction in falls during and a non‐significant reduction after the intervention in PBT group. The PBT group experienced significantly fewer falls than controls both during and after PBT. |
†
Age data from all participants who started the intervention (n = 18), just 15 completed the study. PBT, perturbation‐based balance training; RCT, randomized controlled trial.