None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Falls and injuries resulting from falls are a major concern to New Zealand Health providers and the population in general. The consequences of falling in older age can be devastating to the individual and costly to health providers, such as ACC. We already know that interventions aimed at reducing risk factors for falls in frailer older adults can be effective, and the results of the Otago Exercise Programme support this. However, we don’t know how effective ACC funded Tai Chi programmes are in reducing falls. This proposal seeks to clarify the effectiveness of ACC funded Tai Chi programmes as a means of reducing the incidence of falls in older adults. It will also aim to determine if the frequency of practice of Tai Chi is an important determinant of effectiveness. Clarifying if Tai Chi programmes, as delivered in New Zealand, reduce falls and fall related injuries, and clarifying the frequency of delivery and the longer term effects of the programmes would be of significant benefit to older individuals who are at risk of falling, to ACC as a major funder of falls prevention programmes, and to the health industry in general. An economic evaluation of the Tai Chi programmes would be of benefit in enabling ACC to plan and implement future cost effective programmes.
Interventions
All training sessions are of 1 hour duration for a 20 week period.
Tai Chi training 1x week (intervention group)
Tai Chi training 2X week (intervention group)
Sponsors
Dr Denise Taylor (Auckland University of Technology)
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
55 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be included if they are over the age of 65 years (55 years if Maori or Pacific Islander) have experienced at least one fall in the previous 12 months or have a falls risk factor according to the Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT).
Exclusion criteria
Unable to walk independently (with or without walking aid), chronic medical condition that would limit participation in low-moderate exercise, severe cognitive limitations (telephone Mini mental state examination score <20), currently participating in an organised exercise programme of equivalent intensity as the study intervention.
Outcome results
None listed