ArticleBMJ open2020
Feasibility and acceptability study on the use of a smartphone application to facilitate balance training in the ageing population.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital interactive experience- and game-based fall interventions for community-dwelling healthy older adults: a cross-disciplinary systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Digital Health Technologies for Long-term Self-management of Osteoporosis: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of an exercise program using an smatphone App with remote or in-person supervision on the functional capacity of older adults: a randomized clinical.Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2026Trial
- Feasibility, safety, and adherence of a remote physical and cognitive exercise protocol for older women.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2024Trial
- Evaluating the Association of a Self-Guided, Asynchronous, Balance Exercise Application on Fall-Related Injuries.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Article
- Observational
- Article
- Mobile Technology for Falls Prevention in Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023Review
- Digital Technologies for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Older People: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Unsupervised Assessment of Balance and Falls Risk Using a Smartphone and Machine Learning.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Exergaming and Cognitive Function Research: A Bibliometric Visualization Analysis Using CiteSpace.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study aims to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of using an app-based technology to train balance in the older population.
designProspective feasibility study.
settingThe study was conducted in a university setting and participants' homes.
participantsThirty-five volunteers ≥55 years old were recruited.
interventionParticipants were asked to follow a balance exercise programme 7 days a week for 3 weeks using a phone application. Seventeen participants trained for a further 3 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURES: Postural sway measures during quiet standing with feet at shoulder width apart and feet together, one leg standing and tandem stance were measured at baseline, and at the end of the 3 and 6 training weeks; the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) assessed participants' physical activity level before training; and app acceptability was recorded using a user experience questionnaire.
resultsParticipants on the 3 and 6-week programme on average completed 20 (±5) and 38 (±11) days of training, respectively, and all scored moderate to high on the IPAQ. Between baseline and the 3-week assessments, statistically significant improvements were observed for anteroposterior sway, mediolateral sway, sway area during tandem stance, for anteroposterior sway during one leg standing and for sway area during feet together stance. Improvements were observed at 6 week compared with baseline but those between 3 and 6 weeks were not significant. Based on the questionnaire, participants reported that the app is an appropriate tool for balance training (77%), they reported benefits from the training (50%) and found it easy to fit it into daily routine (88%).
conclusionThe high level of adherence and improvements observed in the analysed measures demonstrate the feasibility of using an app to train balance in moderately to highly physically active older participants. This demonstrates that given appropriate tools the older population is positive towards and receptive of digital interventions aimed to improve balance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.