IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF VOLUNTARY-INDUCED STEPPING RESPONSE TRAINING ON BALANCE RECOVERY PERFORMANCE AND CONFIDENCE IN OLDER ADULTS: PILOT STUDY

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the immediate effects of Voluntary-Induced Stepping Response (VSR) on stepping responses to prevent fall and balance confidence among community-dwelling older adults. Twenty-five participants underwent 1 hour session of VSR training. Participants were asked to lean forward until felt loss of balance before voluntarily stepping 10 time each leg. Warm-up, cool-down, and rest during training were to prevent muscle fatigue. The Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) items 14-18 assessing postural response and the Balance Recovery Confidence (BRC) scale were administered to participants before training and 30 minutes after the training. Change in characteristic of stepping response and relationship between those measures were examined. Results showed significant improvements in total score on the postural response domain of the BESTest and the BRC after training (p < .001), with large effect sizes (0.793 and 0.852, respectively). The percentage of participants able to maintain balance with a single step increased from 12% to 64% and the use of trunk flexion strategies decreased from 76% to 44%. In summary, an hour session of VSR training could enhance compensatory stepping responses performance and balance confidence in older adults. The effect of long-term VSR training still needs to be evaluated before it is implemented into community-based fall prevention programs for older adults.