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1695
Review Article
Eectiveness of resistance exercise using elastic
bands on exibility and balance among
the elderly people living in the community:
a systematic review and meta-analysis
Young Ran Yeun
1)
1) Department of Nursing, Kangwon National University: 346 Hwangjogil, Dogyeeup, Samcheok,
Gangwondo 245-710, Republic of Korea
Abstract. [Pur pose] The purpose of this study was to deter mine the effects of resistance exercise using elastic
bands on exibility and balance among the elderly people living in the community. [Subjects and Methods] Data-
base search was conducted by using PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, RISS, NDSL, NANET, DBpia, and KoreaMed.
The meta-analysis, which was based on 19 studies, covered a total of 649 participants and used either the xed
effects or random effects model. [Results] The effect size estimates showed that resistance exercise using elastic
bands have signicantly increased the functional reach test score (Standard Mean Difference: 1.18, 95% CI 0.48 to
1.89) and timed up and go test score (Mean Difference: 2.89, 95% CI 2.55 to 3.22). [Conclusion] The review nd-
ings suggest that resistance exercise using elastic bands is effective for improving the exibility and balance of the
elderly people living in the community. However, further research is deemed necessary by using a large sample size
or follow-up measure in order to provide evidence-based recommendations.
Key words: Elastic band, Flexibility, Balance
(This article was submitted May 12, 2017, and was accepted Jun. 15, 2017)
INTRODUCTION
Fall-related injuries are important health concerns worldwide in the elderly people living in the community. According
to a previous study, 32% of the elderly aged 65 to 74 years old and 51% of the elderly aged 85 years or older experienced a
fall at least once a year1). Approximately 20% to 30% of the elderly with a fall incident also sustained hip fractures and head
injuries. These reduced their mobility and independence, thereby resulting in a decreased quality of life and an increased risk
of death due to the secondary complications2). For this reason, it is important to develop and implement interventions in order
to prevent fall incidents in the elderly people living in the community.
A recent study showed that risk factors for fall incidents can be reduced via exercise intervention3). In particular, elastic
bands for resistance exercise are easy to use, convenient to carry, economical, and safe. The elderly people living in the com-
munity can easily do this resistance exercise at the comfort of their homes without the assistance of an expert4). In addition,
it is suitable for the muscle strengthening of the elderly people, since it is possible to load in all directions, and the intensity
of the load can be naturally controlled unlike the exercise device, wherein the load is articially controlled5).
Based on the systematic review and meta-analysis on the physical function of the elderly people living in the community
to date, there is a study that evaluated the effect of home-based resistance training on their strength and functional ability6),
and a study that evalauted the effect of physical activity intervention on their physical function7). However, there have been
no studies on the effect of resistance exercise using elastic bands on the exibility and balance of the elderly. Therefore, this
J. Phys. Ther. Sci. 2 9: 1695–169 9, 2017
Corresponding author. Young Ran Yeun (E-mail: yeunyr@kangwon.ac.k r)
©2017 The Societ y of Physical Therapy Science. Published by IPEC Inc.
This is an open-access art icle distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
(by-nc-nd) License. (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd /4.0/)
The Journal of Physical Therapy Science The Journal of Physical Therapy Science
J. Phys. Ther. Sci. Vol. 29, No. 9, 2017 1696
study aimed to provide the guideline and direction for interventions that will help prevent fall incidents in the elderly people
by verifying the effect of resistance exercise using elastic bands on the exibility and balance of the elderly people living in
the community.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
This study was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
(PRISMA), which is a research guideline for systematic review and meta-analysis. The data selection criteria based on the
description form of the systematic literature review, including the Participants, Interventions, Comparisons, Outcomes, and
Study design (PICOS), are as follows. Participants (P) refer to the elderly people aged 65 years or older who are living in the
community. Intervention (I) refers to the resistance exercise using elastic bands that is given alone or in combination with
another intervention. Comparisons (C) refer to the group without an intervention and the group with the aforementioned
intervention. Outcomes (O) refer to the studies that measured exibility or balance in the elderly people by using the Func-
tional Reach Test (FRT), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and One Leg Standing Test (OLST). Study design (S) refers to the
randomized controlled and non-randomized controlled trials.
The data search was carried out without a limitation in a year and targeted the articles that were published until March
2017. The search databases used were PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, RISS, NDSL, NANET, DBpia, and KoreaMed. The
search keywords used were elder, elderly, older, aged, senior, geriatric, resistance, elastic, rubber, thera, latex, band, program,
training, test, functional reach, timed up and go, one leg standing, clinical, randomized, controlled trial, random, placebo, etc.
The selected articles were analyzed by using the RevMan 5.3 program of Cochrane Library. The effect size was estimated
with the xed effects model or random effects model, and the mean difference (MD) or standardized mean difference (SMD)
was presented. The homogeneity of the studies was tested via I2 of Higgins.
RESU LT S
Database searches identied 1,162 studies. Abstracts of 587 studies suggested that 106 articles were potentially eligible
for inclusion; however, only 19 studies met the inclusion criteria (Fig. 1). The total number of study participants was 649
persons (experiment group, 344 persons; control group, 305 persons). The risk-of-bias scores ranged from 8 to 11 out of 12
points (M ± SD, 9.74 ± 1.05) (Table 1). The effect size on FRT was 1.18 (95% CI 0.48 to 1.89), and I2, which represented
heterogeneity, was 83% (Fig. 2). The effect size on TUG was −0.36 (95% CI −0.88 to 0.16), and I2, which represented hetero-
geneity, was 85% (Fig. 3). The effect size on OLST was 2.89 (95% CI 2.55 to 3.22), and I2, which represented heterogeneity,
was 64% (Fig. 4).
DISCUSSION
Resistance exercise using elastic bands has been used as an important intervention for the prevention of fall incidents
by increasing the equilibrium and balance of the elderly; however, a comprehensive analysis for resistance exercise using
elastic bands has rarely been performed. In this study, a
systematic review and a meta-analysis were conducted on
19 studies, including a total of 649 participants, in order
to determine the effectiveness of resistance exercise using
elastic bands on the exibility and balance of the elderly
people living in the community.
The study result showed that resistance exercise using
elastic bands was remarkably effective in improving the
FRT score (EF=1.18) and OLST score (EF=2.89) of the
elderly people living in the community. However, it did
not have a statistically signicant effect in improving the
TUG score. These results were similar to that of the previ-
ous study that conducted a meta-analysis on 15 studies
and reported that exercise was effective in enhancing the
Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score of frail older adults, but
it was not effective in improving the TUG performance8).
De Vries NM et al.9) reported that physical exercise
therapy had a positive effect on the mobility and physical
functioning of the elderly people living in the community.
Howe TE et al.10) showed that exercise was effective in
improving the TUG (4 studies) and OLST (3 studies) of
the elderly people based on the meta-analysis result of Fig. 1. Flow diagram of the study selection process
169 7
Tab le 1. Characteristics of included studies
First author and
year
Study
design
Participants Interventions
Comparisons Scale Total risk-
of-bias score
Total N
(eN/cN) Mean age % of females Ty p e Dur. week Freq./
week N. of Ses. Min Repeated
time RPE
Cyarto 2008a RCT 86 (38,48) 79.0 82.6 RE 20 240 60 30 NR Wal ki ng TUG, OLST 11
Cyarto 2008b RCT 129 (81,48) 78.0 78.3 RE 20 240 60 30 NR Walk ing TUG, OLST 11
Han 2008 RCT 24 (12,12) 74.9 10 0 RE 8 3 24 60 20–30 12–14 Usual care TUG, OLST 10
Haseqawa 2014 NRCT 52 (32, 20) 72.3 59.6 RE 9327 90 12 13– 17 SE TUG 10
Hwang 2013 NRCT 22 (11,11) 78.8 NR RE 12 336 60 8–36 11–16 Usual care FRT, OLST 8
Kang 2011 NRCT 20 (10,10) 77. 6 100 PN F+RE 6318 30 15 NR PNF FRT, TUG 9
Kim 2008 RCT 30 (15,15) 75.6 NR RE 9327 50 36 NR Usual care FRT, TUG, OLST 11
Kim 2012 RCT 16 (8,8) 72.6 62.5 RE 9327 40 30 13-14 Usual care FRT, TUG 10
Kim 2013 NRCT 22 (11,11) 70.4 100 RE+SE 12 336 50 30 NR SE TUG, OLST 9
Kim 2014 NRCT 28 (14,14) 75.8 74.1 RE 8 2 16 50 30 NR Fall education FRT, TUG, OLST 10
Kyung 2014 NRCT 24 (12,12) 65.1 100 RE 8 3 18 60 45 12–14 Usual care OLST 8
Lee 2009 NRCT 24 (12,12) 70.5 100 RE 8 3 24 50 20–30 1 2–14 Usual care FRT, TUG, OLST 11
Lee 2014 RCT 20 (10,10) 6 9.0 NR RE 8 2 16 30 20 NR Usual care FRT 10
Lee 2015 RCT 20 (10,10) 73.5 100 RE 8 4 24 40 15 11-13 Usual care OLST 9
No 2013 NRCT 16 (8,8) 67.1 10 0 RE 12 336 50 NR NR Usual care FRT 9
Park 2009 N RCT 2 2 (11 ,11) 73.3 100 RE 8 3 24 50 45 NR Usual care OLST 10
Skeleton 1995 RCT 40 (20,20) 79.5 100 RE 12 112 60 8NR Usual care F RT 11
Yoo 2014 NRCT 30 (15,15 ) ≥80 NR RE 12 224 60 24– 48 NR Usual care FRT, TUG 8
Yu 2013 RCT 24 (12,12) 65.3 41.6 RE+SE 5315 NR 6NR SE TUG 10
RCT: randomiz ed controlled trials; NRCT: non-randomized controlled t rials; NR: not reported; RE: resista nce exercise; SE: stretch exercise; PNF: proprioceptive neuromuscu lar fa cilitation; RPE:
rate of perceived exertion; FRT: Functional reach test; TUG: Timed up & go test; OLST: One leg standing test
J. Phys. Ther. Sci. Vol. 29, No. 9, 2017 1698
the previous articles. Oh et al. reported that the muscle strength of the elderly improved by 9.8% to 23.5% after 18 weeks
of elastic band resistance training11). Another study showed that the elastic band resistance exercise increased the muscle
strength of the inactive, yet healthy, elderly people and frail elderly people by 3–17% and 6–18%, respectively12). Therefore,
it is believed that the improved muscle strength due to the resistance exercise using elastic bands might have directly or
indirectly inuenced the improvement of the balance and exibility of the elderly people. A systematic review for the effect
of resistance exercise using elastic bands on the muscle strength of the elderly is also necessary.
Fig. 3. Forest plot of TUG
Fig. 4. Forest plot of OLST
Fig. 2. Forest plot of FRT
169 9
According to the previous studies, the risk of a fall incident is higher in the group with less than 25.4 cm FRT, as compared
to the group with greater than 25.4 cm13), and OLST is a signicant and easy-to-administer predictor of injurious falls14).
Based on the results of this study, the resistance exercise using elastic bands need to be actively utilized in order to improve
the FRT and OLST of the elderly people living in the community.
This is the rst meta-analysis study to comprehensively determine the effect of resistance exercise using elastic bands
in order to improve the balance and exibility of the elderly people living in the community. Nevertheless, there are some
limitations. First, long-term effect was not analyzed, since the sample size was small and the follow-up measure was not
performed. After further studies are conducted in the future, it is deemed necessary to perform another systematic review.
Second, fail safe numbers (FSN) that examines how many unpublished studies would have been needed to jeopardize the
results was not calculated. Future research can utilize FSN or different statistical methods to consider publication bias.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was supported by 2016 Research Grant from Kangwon National University (No. 620160144).
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