The feasibility of whole body vibration in institutionalised elderly persons and its influence on muscle performance, balance and mobility: a randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN62535013]

Table 2 Participants' characteristics at baseline.

Parameter	WBV+		Control N = 11	p^b	p^c
	Initial Randomisation (N = 13)	Reassessed at 6 weeks (N = 10)
Gender (M/F)	5/8	4/6	4/7	-	-
Age (years)	76.6 ± 11.8	76.3 ± 9.7	78.6 ± 10.4	.943	.849
Weight (kg)	63.5 ± 14.3	66.7 ± 13.8	63.2 ± 21.1	.898	.592
Height (m)	1.61 ± 0.12	1.63 ± 0.09	1.63 ± 0.09	.787	.987
BMI (kg/m²)	24.3 ± 3.7	25.1 ± 3.8	25.2 ± 5.5	.776	.557
Waist-Hip index	0.92 ± 0.09	0.92 ± 0.09	0.91 ± 0.11	.459	.557
Whole-body muscle mass (kg)	24.5 ± 6.4	25.7 ± 5.6	27.1 ± 9.2	.691	1
Diagnoses (number)	3.2 ± 1.0	3.1 ± 1.0	2.9 ± 0.8	.502	.725
Medications (number)	5.6 ± 1.7	5.8 ± 1.6	4.7 ± 1.7	.227	.164
OA/B ^a (number)	10/3	7/3	8/3	-	-

^aADL-category according to Katz et al. [13]. Mann-Whitney U Test (exact 2-tailed significance) Control versus WBV+ ^binitial randomisation ^creassessed at 6 weeks. Values represent number or mean ± SD.

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