EFFECTIVENESS OF WATER EXERCISE ON POSTURAL MOBILITY IN THE WELL ELDERLY - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY ON BALANCE ENHANCEMENT

Background. The fear of falling may cause elderly people to limit thei r movement. As movement errors are known to facilitate the acquisition of motor skills, the elderly may inadvertently cause the loss of post ural skills by constraining their movements, and hence avoid potential movement errors. It was hypothesized that by having elderly individua ls exercise in a risk-free environment - water was utilized in this ex periment - their postural capabilities would improve. Methods. Four gr oups of elderly subjects (80 +/- 5.8 years old) were placed into four groups: Water Exercisers; Land Exercisers; Water Sitters; and Land Sit ters. Each group met twice per week for 45 minutes for 5 weeks of simp le exercises or socializing in the designated medium. The distance eac h individual could reach (Functional Reach, FR) was measured at the en d of each week. Results. Initially, each group was at risk (FR < 10 in ches) for falling. Statistical testing showed that the Water Exerciser s (WE) increased their FR almost every week; the Land Exercisers (LE) increased only during the first week; and the Water Sitters (WS) and L and Sitters (LS) did not increase at all. The FRs after 5 weeks were 1 3.4 +/- 1.6 (WE), 11.3 +/- 1.5 (LE), 9.6 +/- 1.3 (WS), and 9.3 +/- 0.7 1 (LS) inches for each group, respectively. Conclusions. The data show ed that the postural capabilities in these elderly people, as measured by the FR, were enhanced by the production of movement errors that wa s facilitated in a water environment (in the case of the Water groups) or the initiation of a novel exercise program (Land Exercisers). Alte rnative explanations, and implication of these results, are discussed.