Table 4.
Studies reporting on the effectiveness of Olympic combat sports on balance, fall risk, or falls in older adults.
| Study | Country | Study Design | Sample’s Initial Health | Groups | Mean Age (Year) | Activities in the Intervention and Control Groups | Training Volume | Training Intensity | DCI of Balance | DCI of Fall Risk or Falls | Main Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n) | TD (Weeks) | Fr | TPS (min) | ||||||||||
| (Weekly) | |||||||||||||
| Baek et al. [28] | South Korea | RCT | Apparently healthy | TUG | None | EG vs. CG: ↓ TUG (in favour EG). | |||||||
| EG: 12 | 72.6 | EG: taekwondo | 12 | 3 | 60 | NA | |||||||
| CG: 12 | 72.4 | CG: usual activities | NA | NA | NA | ||||||||
| Campos-Mesa et al. [29] | Spain | NRCT | Apparently healthy | None | FES-I | EG vs. CG: ↓ FES-I π (in favour EG). | |||||||
| EG: 19 | 74.3 | EG: judo | 6 | 2 | 60 | NA | WHO Questionnaire | WHO Questionnaire was not reported post-intervention. | |||||
| CG: 11 | 77.8 | CG: physical fitness | 2 | 60 | NA | ||||||||
| Cho & Roh [30] | South Korea | RCT | Apparently healthy | 50–80%HRmax | TUG | None | |||||||
| EG: 19 | 68.9 | EG: taekwondo | 16 | 5 | 60 | ||||||||
| EG vs. CG: ↔ TUG. | |||||||||||||
| CG: 18 | 69 | CG: usual activities | NA | NA | |||||||||
| Ciaccioni et al. [31] | Italy | NRCT | Apparently healthy | Moderate to vigorous | None | FES-I | EG vs. CG: ↔ FES-I π. | ||||||
| EG: 19 | 69.3 | EG: judo | 16 | 2 | 60 | ||||||||
| BBS | BBS was not reported post-intervention. | ||||||||||||
| CG: 21 | 70.2 | CG: usual activities | NA | NA | |||||||||
| Combs et al. [32] | United States of America | RCT | Parkinson’ ‘s disease | BBS | |||||||||
| EG: 17 | 66.5 | EG: boxing | 12 | 2–3 | 90 | NA | ABC TUG |
EG vs. CG: ↑ ABC (in favour CG), ↔ BBS, ↔ TUG, ↔ DTUG. | |||||
| DTUG | |||||||||||||
| CG: 14 | 68 | CG: physical fitness | 2–3 | 90 | NA | ||||||||
| Cromwell et al. [33] | United States of America | NRCT | Apparently healthy | One question | |||||||||
| EG: 20 | 72.7 | EG: taekwondo | 11 | 2 | 60 | NA | TUG | EG vs. CG: ↓ TUG, ↑ MDRT, ↓ GSR, ↔ SLS (in favour EG). | |||||
| MDRT | |||||||||||||
| CG: 20 | 73.8 | CG: usual activities | NA | NA | NA | GSR | One question was not reported post-intervention. | ||||||
| SLS | |||||||||||||
| Witte et al. [34] | Germany | RCT | Apparently healthy | MBT (static and dynamic balance) | None | EG vs. FG vs. CG: ↔ Static balance, ↔ Dynamic balance. | |||||||
| EG: 30 | EG: karate | 2 | 60 | NA | |||||||||
| FG: 30 | 69.3 | FG: physical fitness | 20 | 2 | 60 | NA | |||||||
| CG: 30 | CG: usual activities | NA | NA | NA | |||||||||
| Youm et al. [35] | South Korea | RCT | Apparently healthy | 12 | None | EG vs. WG vs. CG: ↔ AP RMS distance, ↔ AP velocity, ↔ AP total power frequency, ↓ ML RMS distance, ↓ ML velocity, ↔ ML total power frequency (in favour EG and WG regarding CG). | |||||||
| EG: 10 | 69.4 | EG: taekwondo | 3 | 60 | |||||||||
| WG: 10 | 71.4 | WG: walking exercise | 3 | 60 | 40–60%HRmax | Force Platform (COP) |
|||||||
| CG: 10 | 70.6 | CG: usual activities | NA | NA | |||||||||
ABC: Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale. AP: anteroposterior. BBS: Berg Balance Scale. CG: control group. COP: center of pressure. DCI: data collection instruments. DTUG: Dual-task timed up-and-go test. EG: experimental group. FES-I: Falls Efficacy Scale-International. FG: fitness group. Fr: frequency. GSR: Gait stability ratio. n: number of participants. MBT: motor balance test. MDRT: Multidirectional Reach Test. ML: mediolateral. NA: not applicable. NRCT: a non-randomized controlled trial. RCT: a randomized controlled trial. RMS: root mean square. SLS: the length of time a participant stood on one leg. TD: total duration. TPS: time per session. TUG: timed up-and-go test. %HRmax: percentage of maximum heart rate. ↔: no significant difference. ↑: significant increase. ↓: significant decrease. π: overall score.