Balance Training Reduces Falls and Improves Balance
Sherrington 2016 (meta-analysis, 88 studies, 19,478 participants) reports a 21% reduction in falls from exercise as a single intervention in community-dwelling older people, with larger effects from programmes that challenge balance and are of a higher dose; Chen 2023 reports that Tai Chi significantly reduced fall risk and improved balance.
Ramp volume gradually.
- Two or more falls in the past 12 months, or any fall with injury
- Dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting during standing or movement
- New or worsening unsteadiness, neurological symptoms, or numbness in the feet
- Fear of falling severe enough to restrict daily activity
What the evidence says
The sources on this entry are five meta-analyses of exercise and falls or balance in older adults. Sherrington 2016 (meta-analysis, 88 studies, 19,478 participants) reports a 21% reduction in falls (pooled rate ratio 0.79) and concludes that exercise as a single intervention can prevent falls in community-dwelling older people, and that programmes that challenge balance and are of a higher dose have larger effects. Sherrington 2011 (meta-analysis, 54 studies) reports a 16% reduction in falls (pooled rate ratio 0.84), confirms that exercise as a single intervention can prevent falls, and reports differential effects for programmes with balance training, a higher exercise dose and no walking training, with a higher dose of exercise associated with greater effects on reducing falls. Chen 2023 (meta-analysis, 24 studies, 4,497 participants) reports that Tai Chi significantly reduced fall risk (RR 0.76) and improved balance, including Timed Up and Go, with effectiveness increasing with exercise duration and frequency. Zhang 2025 (network meta-analysis, 93 studies, 5,114 participants) reports that exercise improves balance in healthy older adults. Pillay 2024 (meta-analysis, 219 studies, 167,864 participants) reports that evidence is most certain for benefit, at least over 1 to 2 years, from supervised, long-duration balance and resistance training and group Tai Chi, among other interventions, for preventing falls among community-dwelling older adults.
- 'A little balance work now and then prevents falls' (meaningful effects need substantial cumulative dose)
- Does not guarantee prevention of any fall or injury
- Not a substitute for medical evaluation of dizziness, syncope, or unexplained falls
- A single short session does not deliver the studied fall-prevention dose
- Agreement
- consistent for this claim. Direction recorded for 2 of 5 sources; not yet recorded for the rest.
- The claim's outcome
- Outcome not yet recorded
- Certainty
- No source states a certainty rating.
- Authors
- Sources share authors: C. Sherrington (first author of 2 sources); S. Lord (senior author of 2 sources).
What each source measured and concluded (5)
- What it measured
- Rate of falls
- Direction it states for the claim's outcome
- Improved
- How it was read
- read in full text
- What the review says it includes
- systematic review with meta-analysis
- Studies and participants, as stated
- N = not reported participants across 54 studies
- What it measured
- Number of fallers, number of falls, balance assessment indicators (TUG, FRT, SLB, BBS, SPPB, FES, gait speed).
- How it measured it
- Standardized tests (TUG, FRT, SLB, BBS, SPPB, FES, gait speed assessment).
- How it was read
- read in full text
- What the review says it includes
- meta-analysis, systematic review
- Studies and participants, as stated
- N = 4,497 participants across 24 studies
- Heterogeneity, as stated
- Potential heterogeneity across studies
- What it measured
- Number of fallers, falls, injurious fallers, fractures, hip fractures, residential status/institutionalization, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), functional status.
- How it measured it
- EQ-5D utility measurement for HRQoL; other outcomes likely measured through trial data, but specific tools not detailed.
- Direction it states for the claim's outcome
- Improved
- How it was read
- read in full text
- What the review says it includes
- systematic review with meta-analysis
- Studies and participants, as stated
- N = 167,864 participants across 219 studies
- What it measured
- Rate of falls in older adults.
- How it was read
- read in full text
- What the review says it includes
- systematic review with meta-analysis
- Studies and participants, as stated
- N = 19,478 participants across 88 studies
- What it measured
- Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go Test (TUG), gait speed (GS), and one-leg stance with eyes open (OLSEO).
- How it measured it
- Validated clinical scales and tests: BBS, TUG, OLSEO, and GS.
- How it was read
- read in full text
- What the review says it includes
- systematic review and network meta-analysis
- Studies and participants, as stated
- N = 5,114 participants across 93 studies
Every source below is shown with its study design and links to the original study. This is the audit trail.