title: Effect of whole-body vibration on reduction of bone loss and fall prevention in postmenopausal women: a meta-analysis and systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To examine whole-body vibration (WBV) effect on bone mineral density (BMD) and fall prevention in postmenopausal women, we performed a meta-analysis and systematic review of prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing change in BMD of the femoral neck and lumbar spine and related factors of falls between WBV group and control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ISI Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched up to April 2015; search strategy was used as follows: (vibration) AND (osteoporo* OR muscle* OR bone mineral density OR BMD). All prospective randomized controlled trials comparing related factors of falls and BMD change in the femoral neck and lumbar spine between WBV group and control group were retrieved.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight of 3599 studies with 1014 patients were included, 477 in the WBV group, and 537 in the control group. We found that there was no significant difference in all magnitude groups of the femoral neck (N = 936, WMD: 0.00 (-0.00, 0.01); p = 0.18). A statistical significance showed in the all magnitude groups (N = 1014, WMD: 0.01 (0.00, 0.01); p = 0.01) and low-magnitude group (N = 838, WMD: 0.01 (0.00, 0.01); p = 0.007) of the lumbar spine. No significant difference was found in high-magnitude group of the lumbar spine (N = 176, WMD: 0.00 (-0.01, 0.02); p = 0.47), low-magnitude group (N = 838, WMD: 0.00 (-0.00, 0.00); p = 0.92) and high-magnitude group (N = 98, WMD: 0.02 (-0.00, 0.05); p = 0.06) of the femoral neck. All the studies provided data of related factors of falls such as strength of the lower limb, balance, and fall rate reported effectiveness of WBV therapy. In addition, no complication was reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low-magnitude whole-body vibration therapy can provide a significant improvement in reducing bone loss in the lumbar spine in postmenopausal women. Moreover, whole-body vibration can be used as an intervention for fall prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chiyuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hanxiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. tiemabinhe@126.com.
authors.forename: Haobo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014732:Vibration / Q000627:therapeutic use*