ROLE OF YOGA IN FALL PREVENTION AMONG ELDERLY POPULATION : A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

INTRODUCTION: A fall is defined as an occurrence where a person inadvertently comes to rest on the ground or floor. Falls are a growing public health problem in India, the impact of this is expected to increase as the population ages. According to World Health organization (W.H.O.), falls are the second leading causes of unintentional injury deaths worldwide. Yoga as a fall prevention measure thought to be more effective than traditional exercise because yoga is effective not only on physical level also on mental level. Yoga works primarily expand the body consciousness and Proprioception, so that will lead to the improvement of balance, gait, and muscular strength in the elderly. This article reports a systematic review for the evidence as effectiveness of yoga in fall prevention in elderly. METHOD: A PRISMA guideline has been used in this review. A search for systematic review article was done in Pub-Med and Google Scholar by using such key words: ‘Fear of fall’ and ‘yoga’ in elderly, ‘gait’, ‘balance’, ‘physical activity’, ‘postural balance’, ‘functional performance’, ‘feasibility’, ‘mobility’ in old age people. This work included last 10 years studies. Methodological quality of each study selected for review using the Dawns and Black checklist. RESULT: Total 3153 studies were found, in which five articles (n=179) fulfilled the inclusion criteria; Three studies were randomized controlled trail and two studies were pilot studies. According to Dawns and black checklist, four studies were in moderate quality range and there was moderate risk of bias, only one study was found to be in high quality range with less risk of bias. The results of the studies showed that yoga can be used to prevent falls in the geriatric population. CONCLUSION: Yoga is growing in all over the world and well except by the population of all ages. This review provides evidence that yoga is effective in preventing falls by improving parameters like balance, walking, mobility, flexibility, reducing fear of fall and motor task in elderly population. Although studies needed with larger sample size and randomized controlled trial with the high quality to ascertain the clinical significance of yoga as a fall preventive measure in elderly.