Balance and concern about falls in elderly women practicing resistance and aerobic exercises

Regular physical exercise is considered an effective method for preserving and improving balance in elderly women. However, it is unclear whether resistance and aerobic exercises have the same effect on balance in elderly women. With this in mind, the aim of this study is to compare the effects of resistance and aerobic training on balance and concern about falls in elderly women. For this purpose, elderly women from the resistance training group (RTG; n = 15) and the aerobic exercise group (AEG; n = 15) had their physical activity level, balance and concern about falls evaluated. No significant differences were observed between the groups in physical activity level (chi(2)= 0.240; gl= 1; p<0.624). However, the elderly women from the RTG showed better performance in the balance test (49.8 +/- 3.85) and low concern about possible falls (18.3 +/- 1.44), when compared to the elderly women from the AEG (balance: 28 .13 +/- 4.24; chi(2) Wald (1) = 176.778; p<0.0001; concern about possible falls: 33.0 +/- 5.93; chi(2) Wald (1) = 87.5; p<0.001). In view of this, we can conclude that elderly women who practiced resistance training showed better balance and less concern about possible falls compared to those who practiced aerobic exercises.