Niemelä K, Huuhtanen M
Kauniala Hospital for Disabled War Veterans, Kauniainen, Finland
Väänänen I, Laitinen-Väänänen S
Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Lahti, Finland

Background
Poor functional capacity has been associated with increased fall risk and mobility disability among older people. It has been reported that long-term programs, including a combination of muscle strengthening and specific balance exercise, improve functional capacity in relatively healthy older people. In addition, few studies have shown positive signs of rocking in a rocking chair on elderly. In contrast, general exercise programs aiming at improving the fitness of older adults have not been as successful in improving the functional capacity. The most important thing in the training program is realising the program. It must be substantiated into actions.

Aims
The purpose of this study was to investigate the rocking chair program (Keinutuolijumppa®) as a training method for elderly women to increase the functional capacity.

Results and conclusions
This study was carried out in Kauniala Hospital for Disabled War Veterans. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the University Hospital of Kuopio, and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Fifty over 75 year old women volunteered to participate in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to a rocking chair (n = 25) and a control group (n = 25). The rocking chair training protocol included five rocking chair 30 minutes training sessions per week, ten exercises per session concentrated to the lower extremities. Interviews (health, diseases, symptoms, ADL, physical activity, hobbies) and functional capacity tests will be done during the autumn 2006 and winter 2007.