Background. Institutionalized older adults have increased gait and balance impairment compared with community-dwelling older adults. The use of the treadmill for the rehabilitation process has been studied in different groups, but not in the institutionalized elderly. Objectives. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of a treadmill walking workout program on the postural balance of institutionalized older adults. Methods. Postural balance was assessed by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), gait speed, and Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) on 37 institutionalized older adults (23 in the intervention group and 14 in the control group). Training consisted of a 20-minute treadmill walking workout carried out twice a week for 10 weeks. Measurements were obtained before and after 10 weeks and with 1 month of follow-up for the intervention group. For the control group, the data were obtained before and after the training period. Results. Significant improvement occurred in all motor function parameters (BBS: p<0.01; gait speed: p<0.001; SPPB: p<0.001; and TUG: p<0.001). Conclusions. The present results permit us to conclude that a treadmill walking program had positive effects on the postural balance of institutionalized older adults.

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Nursing homes residents have a reduced mobility and a worse balance. The use of tools to screening the risk of falling is useful in identifying older adults who need intervention to prevent future falls, but there is a gap in studies assessing which tests have good agreement to assess the balance in institutionalized older people. Objective: to analyze the correlation between tests used to assess the body balance in the elderly living in the nursing homes. Methods: 45 nursing home residents were included. The balance was evaluated using the follow clinical tests: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Timed up and Go (TUG), gait speed by 10 meter walk test, the distance in the Six-minute walk test and Tinetti test. Results: All tests used in the study showed a positive or negative correlation between them, with statistical significance: SPPB and BBS (r=0.79, p<0.0001), SPPB and TUG (r=-0.72, p<0.0001), SPPB and gait speed (r=0.73, p<0.0001), BBS and TUG (r=-0.81, p<0.0001), BBS and gait speed (r=0.72, p<0.0001), BBS and distance (6MWT) (r=0.72, p<0.0001), TUG and gait speed (r=-0.75, p<0.0001), TUG and distance (6MWT)(r=-0.85, p<0.0001), gait speed and distance (6MWT)(r=0.80, p<0.0001), distance (6MWT) and Tinetti (r=0.70, p<0.0001), SPPB and distance (6MWT)(r-0.66, p<0.0001), BBS and Tinetti (r=0.54, p=0.0001), TUG and Tinetti (r=-0.57, p<0.0001, gait speed and Tinetti (r=0.52, p=0.0002), and SPPB and Tinetti (r=0.39, p=0.007. Conclusion: the instruments showed a strong or moderate correlation and can be used to evaluate the postural balance in the nursing home residents.

Introduction: Older adults living in Nursing Homes are a complex population, with a high prevalence of dependency in activities of daily living, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and reduced mobility and poor balance when compared with community-dwelling elderly. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate if the postural balance of institutionalized elderly is influenced by the length of institutionalization, age, number of medications, number of falls, body mass index (BMI) and cognitive status. Methods: 98 elderly people living in the three Nursing Homes were evaluated and 45 were included. Were considered the following variables: ages over 60 years old; length of institutionalization, falls in the previous year, anthropometric measurements (height and weight) and cognitive status. The balance was evaluated by Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Results: Of all the variables evaluated, only number of medication and BMI had a negative correlation with scores of BBS and SPPB. In the regression analysis, the significant effect of the number of medications on the SPPB and BERG scores was confirmed. Conclusion: Elderly people living in nursing homes have a poor postural balance and the number of medications and BMI contribute significantly to this.