Multisensory Exercise Improves Balance in People with Balance Disorders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective To examine the effect of multisensory exercise on balance disorders. Methods PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched to identify eligible studies published before January 1, 2020. Eligible studies included randomized control trials (RCTs), non-randomized studies, case-control studies, and cohort studies. The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists for RCTs and for Quasi-Experimental Studies by two researchers independently. A narrative synthesis of intervention characteristics and health-related outcomes was performed. Results A total of 11 non-randomized studies and 9 RCTs were eligible, including 667 participants. The results supported our assumption that multisensory exercise improved balance in people with balance disorders. All of the 20 studies were believed to be of high or moderate quality. Conclusion Our study confirmed that multisensory exercise was effective in improving balance in people with balance disorders. Multisensory exercises could lower the risk of fall and enhance confidence level to improve the quality of life. Further research is needed to investigate the optimal strategy of multisensory exercises and explore the underlying neural and molecular mechanisms of balance improvement brought by multisensory exercises.

The Added Value of Combined Timed Up and Go Test, Walking Speed, and Grip Strength on Predicting Recurrent Falls in Chinese Community-dwelling Elderly

“…21 Meanwhile, weaker muscle strength not only indicated not enough stable support during movement, 36 but also partly reflected impaired functions of musculoskeletal system. 17 As functional tests, TUGT and WS could also be affected by internal factors related to more occurrences of falls, such as age, body shape, vestibular sense, proprioception and vision, which may have promoted increased numbers of falls through failing to navigate effectively because of imprecise vision, 17 misjudgment of distances and misinterpretation of spatial information by impoverished visual input, 43 postural instability and unsteady turns with vestibular hypofunction. 44 Therefore, the joint effects of those internal factors on predicting recurrent-falls were addressed by our combined functional models.…”

Analysis of the sentiments of the participants in a clinical study to evaluate a balance rehabilitation intervention delivered by a Virtual Coach

“…The HOLOBalance telehealth system has been deployed to provide solutions to the above-mentioned issues. HOLOBalance is a balance rehabilitation system, which is relied on augmented reality (AR) and multisensory rehabilitation (MSR) protocols [19]. For MSR the older patients should perform exercises in a regular basis by triggering the balance system and optimize the vestibular function.…”