Combined physical-cognitive training enhances postural performances during daily life tasks in older adults

Abstract Physical-cognitive interventions seem promising to improve balance and gait performances and prevent falls in the elderly. Although these beneficial effects, it is still not clear whether these physical-cognitive training modalities leads to more general non-specific adaptations that can be transferred to some measures reflecting every day abilities. This randomized controlled trial examined postural (center of pressure oscillations), physical (lower body strength, gait speed, functional mobility, dynamic balance) and cognitive performances (reaction time) and postural performance during daily life tasks (walking while conversing on a phone and maintaining an upright standing posture while buttoning a shirt) in older adults (66.29 ± 3.61 years) pre- and post- 6-months physical and physical-cognitive interventions. Results showed that both training modalities improve balance ( p p p