Effect of Whole-Body Vibration Training on the Physical Capability, Activities of Daily Living, and Sleep Quality of Older People with Sarcopenia

Aim: To investigate the effect of whole-body vibration on older people with sarcopenia, and their physical capability, activities of daily living, and sleep quality. Methods: This study is quasi-experimental and adopts single-group pretest-posttest design. The study included participants aged older than 65 years who lived in nursing homes and care centers in Taipei, Taiwan. The whole-body vibration training was performed for 3 months, and during each training session, a participant received ten cycles of 60-sec vibration with 30-sec breaks between the cycles. The physical capability, activities of daily living, and sleep quality of the participants were examined to understand the pretest and posttest results of whole-body vibration training. Concerning the statistical methods adopted, nonparametric method-based tests were employed. Results: In addition to sleep quality (z = 7.367, p > 0.05), significant differences were observed between before and after whole-body vibration training intervention for one-foot balance (z = -2.447, p < 0.05), shoulder and arm flexibility (z = -3.159, p < 0.05), walking speed (z = -2.692, p < 0.05), right-hand grip (z = -3.388, p < 0.05), left-hand grip (z = -3.264, p < 0.05), five sit-stand repetitions (z = -2.936, p < 0.05), skeletal muscle mass index (z = -3.621, p < 0.05), and activities of daily living (z = 1.163, p < 0.05). Conclusions: According to this study, with the 12-week whole-body vibration training in older people with sarcopenia, their physical capability and activities of daily living have improved, though sleeping quality is not statistically significant.