Otago exercises adapted to balance to manage the risk of falls in the elderly

(1) Background: Balance impairment is one of the main factors interfering with the increased risk of falls in the elderly. Between 28% and 35% of people over 64 years of age suffer falls each year and their incidence increases as they age. It has been shown that the use of Otago exercises (OE) reduces the risk of falls in this population. (2) Methods: The Otago exercise program (OEP) adapted to balance developed an initial 5-minute walk, warm-up exercises, flexibility, muscle activation, strength and balance. Two sessions per week were applied for 12 weeks and the approximate time of each intervention was 45 minutes. A pre and post evaluation was performed with the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Single leg stance test (SLST) to measure the risk of falls. (3) Results: the final TUG showed that the high risk of falls present in 20% of participants was eliminated and the slight risk of falls decreased by 12%. The SLST revealed that 64% of the participants no longer presented a risk of falls. The applied T-STUDENT statistical test obtained a p-value<0.001 in both evaluations. (4) Conclusions: It was concluded that the balance-adapted OEP significantly decreased the risk of falls in the older adults.