# Should whole body vibration be used for falls prevention in older people living in the community?

## TL;DR

Whole-body vibration may help prevent falls in older people living at home, but should be used carefully with professional guidance.

## Contribution

The paper provides a cautionary perspective on implementing whole-body vibration for falls prevention in older adults.

## Key findings

- WBV has moderate-certainty evidence for falls prevention in community-dwelling older people.
- Confidence intervals suggest a range of possible effects, including potential ineffectiveness.
- WBV should be used cautiously and tailored to individual needs with professional guidance.

## Abstract

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care has recently published a systematic review and network meta-analysis that concludes that whole-body vibration (WBV) has moderate-certainty evidence for falls prevention for older people living in the community. However, as Cochrane Collaboration falls prevention review authors and clinicians, we suggest that when the range of possible effects captured with the 95% confidence intervals, the likelihood of adverse events and the lack of evidence for effectiveness in older people living in care facilities are taken into account, that this intervention should be implemented with caution in this population. Outside of the clinical trial setting, WBV in this population should only be implemented following an individually tailored assessment and with guidance from an appropriately trained health professional.