Feasibility Aquatic Physical Exercise to Reduce Falls in Institutionalized Elderly

Feasibility of a Physical Exercise Program, Performed Inside or Outside the Aquatic Environment, to Reduce Falls in Institutionalized Elderly: A Pilot Randomised Clinical Study

This is a pilot randomized control trial with single blinding of the assessor that will be conducted in two nursing homes residence to evaluate the applicability of a physical exercise program performed in an aquatic environment compared with the same realization but land-based to reduce falls in the institutionalized old people. The secondary objectives are to study the applicability of the intervention in improving balance, function, gait mobility, muscle strength of the lower limbs and the perception of the intervention.

The participants will be randomized and divided into the hydrotherapy group or the control group. Each participant will attend a total of 24 physical exercise sessions of 50 minutes of duration. The study outcomes will be measured before the intervention and in 3 posterior phases to evaluate its effects in the short, medium and long terms.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be institutionalized in a care center
• Participate voluntarily and sign the informed consent
• Have a punctuation of 2 or more in The Downton Fall Risk Index

Exclusion Criteria:

• Suffer from a condition that can be affected or hinder exercise
• Acute disease unresolved in 10 days
• Not controlled hypertension
• Contagious skin disorder
• Urinary or faecal incontinence