Abstract

Background: the high risk of falls in elderly people, the great cost it involves and the practice of water exercises by many senior citizens, make us wonder whether this activity is effective for the prevention of falls. The overall objective of this study was to examine the scientific evidence on the clinical application of aquatic physiotherapy in improving the balance and the prevention of falls. Material and method: we reviewed the recent literature on aquatic physiotherapy interventions for improving balance and preventing falls and the elderly. We only included randomized clinical trials (RCT) of the databases PubMed, Medline, PEDro, Scopus, Cinahl, Sciencedirect. We assessed the quality of the work with the PEDro scale, internal validity with internal validity score (IVS) and for the synthesis of data and evidence level we followed a qualitative method recommended by the Cochrane Back Group. This review followed the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) criteria. Outcomes: four of the analysed RCTs found significant differences between the control and experimental group, but we found two RCTs, one high and one low quality, that showed no differences before the intervention. There is moderate evidence in the application of aquatic physical therapy to improve balance and to reduce the risk of falls in older people.