Effectiveness of Rehabilitative Intervention on Pain, Postural Balance, and Quality of Life in Women with Multiple Vertebral Fragility Fractures: A Prospective Cohort Study
Patients with vertebral fragility fractures often experience chronic pain, postural and
balance disorders, and poor quality of life (QoL). Although several studies have investigated the role
of rehabilitation in severe osteoporosis, the effectiveness of this intervention in patients with multiple
vertebral fractures is poorly known. The aim of our longitudinal cohort study is to evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation, including postural training, resistance exercises, and visual stabilization
exercises, for a 7-week period, on the pain, postural balance, and QoL of subjects with at least two
vertebral fragility fractures receiving denosumab and vitamin D. We investigated, before (T0) and
after (T1, at 7 weeks) rehabilitation, the following outcome measures on 28 patients: pain (Numerical
Rating Scale (NRS)), self-perceived QoL (36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and Mini-Osteoporosis
Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini-OQOL)), dizziness (Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI-I)),
mobility (Timed-Up and Go (TUG) test), and instrumental posturographic assessment (FreeMed
posturography system). At the end of the treatment, improvements of pain and QoL were recorded.
Pain relief was highly obtained in patients with more than two vertebral fractures. Moreover, a
significant functional improvement (TUG test) was found in those with two vertebral fractures,
without any statistically significant change reported for other outcomes. Our findings suggest that
combined intervention, including anti-osteoporotic drugs and postural rehabilitation, should be
proposed to osteoporotic patients with multiple vertebral frac