Poster Presentation Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Should Whole Body Vibration be Used for Falls Prevention in Older People? (#210)

Wing (Venisa) Kwok 1 , Cathie Sherrington 1 , Rik Dawson 1 , Ian D Cameron 2 , Suzanne M Dyer 3
  1. Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Northern Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Aims: The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care concluded that whole-body vibration (WBV) prevents falls in older people living in the community (moderate-certainty evidence).1 This analysis synthesizes the evidence for WBV in older people in any setting.

Methods: Randomised controlled trials of WBV for preventing falls in people ≥65 years were identified from systematic reviews of older people living in the community1, care facilities2, or both3. Study characteristics, risk-of-bias and outcomes were extracted in duplicate from the reviews and/or original publications. Falls rate ratios (RaR) or risk ratios (RR) were pooled with generic inverse variance meta-analysis.

Results: Six trials of WBV were included; two examined WBV in addition to active exercise, four compared WBV to usual care. Trials in the community excluded participants with bone metabolism diseases, two enrolled women only, and participants used WBV 2-5 times weekly for 5-20 minutes for 8 weeks (1 trial, n=48) or 18 months (2 trials, n=861). WBV reduced the rate and risk of falls (RaR=0.60, 95%CI 0.46–0.78, I2=19%, 3 studies; RR=0.63, 95%CI 0.47–0.84, I2=1%, 2 studies). In care facilities, WBV was conducted 2-3 times weekly for 1.25–6 minutes for 6 weeks (n=159), 6 months (n=62) or 12 months (n=171) and increased falls (RaR=1.48, 95%CI 1.16–1.90, I2=0%, 2 studies; RR=1.30, 95%CI 0.98–1.72, I2=0%, 3 studies).

Conclusions: WBV is not recommended for older people living in care facilities. For community-dwelling older people, WBV should be implemented with caution, following an individually tailored assessment with guidance from a health professional.

  1. Pillay et al. 2024. Falls prevention interventions for community‑dwelling older adults: systematic review and meta‑analysis of benefits, harms, and patient values and preferences. Syst Rev. 13(1):289.
  2. Dyer et al. 2025. Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities. CDSR 2025: Aug 20; 8(8); CD016064.
  3. Jepsen et al. 2017. Effect of whole-body vibration exercise in preventing falls and fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open; Dec 29;7(12):e0183427.