Otago Exercise Programme (Home Fall-Prevention Routine)
The Otago set of progressive leg-strength and balance exercises with a walking plan: one way to carry out what the review summary this entry was written from reports: that balance training reduces falls.
Start with professional instruction where possible; progress load 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
How to do it
- The Otago Exercise Programme is a structured home routine of progressive leg-strength and balance exercises plus a walking plan, delivered over months with periodic support.
What the evidence says
This practice is one way to carry out what the sources on the concept entry (phys.neuromotor.concept-dose-response) studied: exercise as a single intervention and falls or balance in older adults. Sherrington 2016 (meta-analysis, 88 studies, 19,478 participants) reports a 21% reduction in falls and concludes that exercise as a single intervention can prevent falls in community-dwelling older people, with larger effects from programmes that challenge balance and are of a higher dose; it does not single out the Otago programme. Zhang 2025 (network meta-analysis, 93 studies, 5,114 participants) lists Otago among the exercise modalities it compared and 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. The full account, source by source, is on the concept entry this practice links to (phys.neuromotor.concept-dose-response).
- 'It's only strength work' (it deliberately combines strength and balance)
- Does not guarantee prevention of any fall or injury
- Not a substitute for medical evaluation of dizziness, syncope, or unexplained falls
- Reduces but does not eliminate fall risk
- 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.