The impact of 12 weeks combined resistance and balance training on functional Sit-To-Stand muscle power in mobility limited older patients

Background

Falls become more frequent with ageing. Improving balance and muscle strength has been shown to reduce the risk of falls in older patients, but the importance of muscle power is less investigated.

Objective

To evaluate changes in functional Sit-to-Stand muscle power and the association with dynamic balance in older adults following a 12-week exercise program.

Material and methods

A retrospective study including 84 (69 women) with a mean age of 79.3 years were included. Based on the 30s-STS performance, relative muscle power (W*kg⁻¹) and allometric muscle power (W*m⁻²) was calculated, and the Dynamic Gait Index was used for dynamic balance.

Results

The mean (SD) relative- and allometric power increased significantly (p < 0.001) from 2.3 (0.9) W*kg⁻¹ to 2.9 (0.9) W*kg⁻¹ and 58.4 (22.6) W*m⁻² to 76.3 (22.6) W*m⁻², respectively. Forty-seven out of 70 patients improved their 30s-STS performances by ≥ 2 repetitions, and 44 out of 68 patients showed an improvement of ≥ 3 points in their DGI scores. Relative- and allometric muscle power was significantly correlated with DGI scores before r = 0.398, (0.188–0.573) and r = 0.381 (0.169–0.560) and after r = 0.439 (0.215–0.62) and r = 0.374 (0.215–0.620) the 12-week program for the whole group. Additionally, 45 % of the patients were at reduced risk of falling according to their DGI values.

Conclusion

Sit-to-stand performance and DGI scores improved in older adults after participating in a 12-week combined balance and strength training program. Estimates of STS muscle power was associated with DGI scores.