Physiotherapy & Health Science · Jul 30, 2026

The Effect of Sit to Stand Exercise on Balance Improvement in Older Adults at Trenggalek Community Health Center

By Oktafiani AD, Halimah N, Sartoyo et al.

Background: Balance disorders are a major risk factor for falls among older adults and have serious impacts on quality of life and independence. Trenggalek Regency recorded that 19.04% of its population were older adults (BPS, 2024), with 78 cases of balance disorders documented at the Trenggalek Community Health Center, emphasizing the urgency of effective and accessible fall prevention interventions. Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of Sit to Stand Exercise on improving balance in older adults at the Trenggalek Community Health Center. Methods: This study employed a pre-experimental design using a one-group pretest-posttest approach. A total of 20 older adults aged 60–65 years were selected through purposive sampling based on the inclusion criteria of moderate fall risk according to the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test (20–30 seconds). The intervention was administered for six weeks, three sessions per week, using a three-phase progressive training protocol. Results: Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test. The results showed a decrease in the median TUG time from 21.37 seconds (pretest) to 20.13 seconds (posttest), with a p-value of 0.001 (p < 0.05), indicating that Sit to Stand Exercise had a significant effect on improving balance in older adults. Conclusion: This improvement was achieved through neuromuscular adaptations, including increased lower-extremity muscle strength, enhanced motor unit recruitment efficiency, and progressive optimization of postural control. Sit to Stand Exercise is proven to be effective, practical, requires no special equipment, and can be recommended as an evidence-based preventive physiotherapy intervention in primary healthcare settings.

doi.org/10.22219/physiohs.v9i1.45050 Open access Interventions