Hnin-Zi-Gone Home for the Aged. THU ZAW THIN, PT, MS1), THANDA AYE, PT, MS2), MAY MEE KHIN, MD, PhD3). 1. Department of Physical Medicine, No (1) ...
Effects of Balancing Exercise Program to Prevent Falls among Residents Living in Hnin-Zi-Gone Home for the Aged THU ZAW THIN, PT, MS1), THANDA AYE, PT, MS2), MAY MEE KHIN, MD, PhD3) 1. Department of Physical Medicine, No (1) Military Hospital 300 bedded, Myit Kyi Na, Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2. Department of Physiotherapy, University of Medical Technology, Yangon, Republic of the Union of Myanmar 3. Department of Physical Medicine, No (1) Military Hospital 700 bedded, Pyin Oo Lwin, Republic of the Union of Myanmar [Background] Myanmar, like in other countries of the world, is facing the emerging issue of growing number of senior citizens. Longer life is associated with chronic diseases and disabilities in old age. Falls in the elderly are a major health problem and falls and complications of the falls are major public health challenges. This problem will increase in magnitude as the numbers of older adults increase in many nations throughout the world. Preventive measures such as balancing exercises, co-ordination exercises, strengthening exercises and flexibility exercises must be taken to reduce the burden of falls on the individual, family and society. Hnin-ZiGone home for the aged in Yangon, Myanmar was founded in 1933 to provide accommodation and care for the senior citizens in the evening years of their lives. [Purpose] To examine the effects of balancing exercise program to prevent falls among the residents living in Hnin-Zi-Gone home for the aged. [Subjects and Methods] Total 35 subjects (14 males and 21 females) (mean age: 83±1.02 years) were recruited. The exclusion criteria were the subjects with 1) severe underlying musculoskeletal diseases and disorders, 2) Cardiopulmonary disorders, 3) Psychological disorders, 4) Neurological problems (e.g. Stroke, Parkinson disease, etc.), and 5) Amputee. This study was approved from the Research Ethics Committee of Military Institute of Nursing and Paramedical Sciences, and Hnin-Zi-Gone home for the aged. The study design was institutional based before and after interventional study during a period of 14 months (from July 2011 to August 2012). The balancing exercise program (flexibility exercises, strengthening exercises, postural exercises, coordination exercises, survival maneuvers, endurance walking) lasted maximum 45 minutes, including resting period, in one session, three sessions per week and total 18 sessions in 6 weeks were done under the supervisions of the Physiotherapist. The main outcome measures were muscle power (knee extensors, knee flexors, hip extensors and hip abductors) in Medical Research Council (MRC) scale, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Modified Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) which included seven categories. The measurements were done at the initial week and after the 6th week. The paired t test was used in IBM SPSS Statistics version 16.0 for window. The significant level was set as p
