Falls are a well-known problem among the elderly and it has been reported that one in three people aged 65 years and over fall once or more each year and about 50% of them will suffer recurrent falls (Masudand Morris 2001). Several studies have determined the physical consequences of falls, such as hip fractures (1%), fractures at other sites (3%) or brain injury (2%). Gait changes and poor balance ability are among the major fall risk factors.

Epidemiological studies of falls in the elderly have indicated that falls are a multi-causal phenomenon with a complex interaction between intrinsic factors (e.g., advanced age, specific diseases, gait disorders) and extrinsic factors (e.g., environmental and housing conditions). Among the intrinsic factors, researchers have identified decreased balance and mobility skills as very strong predictors of the likelihood for falls. Hallmarks for successful aging by community-dwelling older adults include appropriate gait speed (Montero-Odasso et al., 2005) and balance confidence (Powell& Myers, 1995).

Gait and balance disorders have been consistently identified in multiple reviews as among the strongest risk factor for falls. About 10-25% of falls are associated with poor balance and gait abnormalities. Functional mobility is a term used to reflect the balance and gait manoeuvres used in everyday life (e.g., getting in and out of a chair, walking, turning).⁷ Because activity restriction is associated with numerous consequences related to physical de-con­ditioning and reduced levels of social participation, mobility is intimately linked to health status and quality of life (Groessl et al., 2007; Metz, 2000; Yeom, Fleury, & Keller, 2008).

It has been shown task specific circuit training is effective in many neurological conditions like stroke and multiple sclerosis^. Circuit training is a technique in which exercises are performed in successive stations with either a predetermined number of repetitions or for a set duration. Exercise intervention in form of task-oriented exercise programme is now recognised as a new strategy to improve functional status of chronic stroke individuals.¹⁰ But none of the studies have investigated the effect of task-oriented circuit training on balance, gait speed and functional ability of community dwelling elderly. Keeping this in view the study was designed to see the effects of task-oriented circuit training on balance, gait speed and functional ability in community dwelling elderly and to establish the feasibility of task-oriented circuit training in elderly.