Seniors can reduce frequency of falls by exercising to music, study finds

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Music-based exercise programs may help Seniors improve balance and reduce frequency of falls, according to a report online that is expected to be published March 28, in Archives of Internal Medicine. Read the Senior Journal article which references the report here.

The study was organized by University Hospitals, and Faculty of Medicine of Geneva, Switzerland. For six months, music-based exercises were tested in a controlled environment involving just over 130 elderly men and women. It should be noted though, that 96% of the participants were women.

Participants were assigned at random to two groups; the first group of adults was immediately immersed in the music-based exercise program, whereas the second group of adults participated in the program six months following the first group. The first group returned to normal exercise activities after their six month period. When measured, the first group only showed a rate of .7 falls per year per person, compared to 1.6 for the second, delayed group.

According to the authors, "that participation in music-based multitask exercise classes once a week over a 6-month period can improve gait performance under single and cognitive-motor, dual-task conditions, as well as improve balance, and reduce both the rate of falls and the risk of falling in at-risk elderly community-dwelling adults.”

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