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The association between balance and free-living physical activity in an older community-dwelling adult population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Public Health, April 2018
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (96th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (94th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
8 news outlets
blogs
2 blogs
policy
1 policy source
twitter
10 X users
reddit
1 Redditor

Citations

dimensions_citation
14 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
175 Mendeley
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Title
The association between balance and free-living physical activity in an older community-dwelling adult population: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in
BMC Public Health, April 2018
DOI 10.1186/s12889-018-5265-4
Pubmed ID
Authors

Ilona I. McMullan, Suzanne M. McDonough, Mark A. Tully, Margaret Cupples, Karen Casson, Brendan P. Bunting

Abstract

Poor balance is associated with an increased risk of falling, disability and death in older populations. To better inform policies and help reduce the human and economic cost of falls, this novel review explores the effects of free-living physical activity on balance in older (50 years and over) healthy community-dwelling adults. Search methods: CENTRAL, Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised register and CDSR in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and AMED were searched from inception to 7th June 2016. Intervention and observational studies investigating the effects of free-living PA on balance in healthy community-dwelling adults (50 years and older). Thirty studies were eligible for inclusion. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were independently carried out by two review authors. Due to the variety of outcome measures used in studies, balance outcomes from observational studies were pooled as standardised mean differences or mean difference where appropriate and 95% confidence intervals, and outcomes from RCTs were synthesised using a best evidence approach. Limited evidence provided by a small number of RCTs, and evidence from observational studies of moderate methodological quality, suggest that free-living PA of between one and 21 years' duration improves measures of balance in older healthy community-dwelling adults. Statistical analysis of observational studies found significant effects in favour of more active groups for neuromuscular measures such as gait speed; functionality using Timed Up and Go, Single Leg Stance, and Activities of Balance Confidence Scale; flexibility using the forward reach test; and strength using the isometric knee extension test and ultrasound. A significant effect was also observed for less active groups on a single sensory measure of balance, the knee joint repositioning test. There is some evidence that free-living PA is effective in improving balance outcomes in older healthy adults, but future research should include higher quality studies that focus on a consensus of balance measures that are clinically relevant and explore the effects of free-living PA on balance over the longer-term.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 10 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 175 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 175 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 25 14%
Student > Bachelor 22 13%
Researcher 13 7%
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 6%
Student > Postgraduate 9 5%
Other 32 18%
Unknown 64 37%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 31 18%
Medicine and Dentistry 26 15%
Sports and Recreations 17 10%
Neuroscience 4 2%
Psychology 4 2%
Other 17 10%
Unknown 76 43%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 86. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 October 2021.
All research outputs
#486,087
of 25,169,746 outputs
Outputs from BMC Public Health
#446
of 16,818 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#11,059
of 334,787 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Public Health
#17
of 311 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,169,746 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 16,818 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 334,787 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 311 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.