Wii fit balance board with balance & strength training on fall risk, balance& mobility in elderly fallers

Background: fall in older adults is associated with Diminished balance, increased fall risk. Evidence suggests that utilizing Nintendo Wii-Fit Balance Board, a virtual-reality game console, is effective in assessing balance and improving Balance in elderly.
Objectives: In this study, we tried to find out the effect of Wii-Fit Balance Board in combination with Balance & strength training in reducing fall risk (FRAT), improving static & Dynamic Balance (Wii fit & berg balance scale (BBS)& Mobility by Timed Up and Go Test (TUG)in old age adults (60 and above) fallers.
Methods: This was a double blinded randomized control trial, pre-test post-test design in which there was control group and multiple outcome measures. Participants were divided into Experimental Group (Group- A) and Control Group (Group- B). The participants in Group- A (n = 50) received Total 60 minutes of Wii Fit Gaming exercises combined with Balance & Strength Training (20+40) 5 Days in a week. Group- B (n = 50) participants performed 60 Minutes of Balance & Strength Training with Wooden board for 4 weeks. Four different position on Wii Fit Balance Board, BBS and (TUG) were the outcome measures used in pre-& post assessments.
Results: There were 100 participants in the study with a mean age of 63.96 ± 2.97 years. Following intervention, both groups showed a significant change in scores (p<0.01) on the Wii Fit Balance Board, BBS and TUG. It also suggests that exercises combined with Wii Fit Balance board may improve balance & mobility however, the improvements in balance were restricted to standing on one leg with open eyes and BBS Score and no difference were observed for the control groups in other component like standing on both legs with open eyes, eyes closed & Mobility at post intervention level.
Conclusion: The use of Wii Fit Balance Board can be a possible tool in assessing & improving the Balance& Mobility of elderly fallers when used in conjunction with Balance & Strength Training. Clinically, physiotherapist should also consider effectiveness not only for providing balance training but also for assessment of balance and provide functional activities.