| Objective To assess the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) exposure on treatment outcomes in osteoporotic patients systematically. Methods Electronic databases including PubMed, EMbase, the Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2017), CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on effects of WBV exposure in treating osteoporotic patients from inception of databases to January 31, 2017. Two researchers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. Results Totally 8 RCTs involving 657 patients were included. The meta-analysis results suggested that there were no significant differences when comparing the WBV and control groups, for lumbar areal spine bone mineral density (aBMD) (MD=0.00, 95%CI?0.01 to 0.01, P=0.92), radius trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (Tb.vBMD) (MD=?0.87, 95%CI ?2.93 to 1.20, P=0.41) or tibia Tb.vBMD (MD=0.34, 95%CI ?0.69 to 1.38, P=0.52). However, in the WBV group the pain was improved (MD=?0.67, 95%CI ?1.12 to ?0.22, P=0.003) and the rate of falling was decreased (MD=0.50, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.86, P=0.01). Conclusion No significant effect was found associated with WBV, either for lumbar spine aBMD, or for radius and tibia Tb.vBMD. However, the pain was improved in the WBV group. Further studies are needed to confirm its effect on risk of falling and its safety. |