Feasibility and effectiveness of an online,group-based exercise program on fall, muscle strength and quality of life among older adults.

This trial consisted of 2 phases, phase 1 will be the development of a virtual falls prevention exercise program and acceptability among community-dwelling older adults. Phase 2 will be the implementation and evaluation of the virtual exercise program after refining it based on the input from phase 1 with the records of the adherence rate of the exercise program. In phase 1, one virtual focus group discussion will be carried out after one session of the virtual exercise program to explore older adults perception towards the exercise program design. After, completed phase 1 virtual focus group discussion, the input and feedback from phase 1 will be collected and the exercise program design will adjust accordingly before proceeding to phase 2. In phase 2, one virtual fall prevention education session will be conducted and a virtual supervise group-based exercise program were conducted twice per week with 75 minutes in each session via Zoom.us. apps. The same participants will be involved in phase 1 as in phase 2. The virtual supervise group-based falls prevention exercise program in six-month duration. The exercise design develops based on current evidence and aimed to examine the effects on the risk of falls, balance, muscle strength and quality of life among community-dwelling older adults. The education session will be provided for both group participants in different sessions. The fall prevention education session will be delivered by a physiotherapist one session for 6 months and interactive activities such as questions and answer sessions before the virtual supervise exercise program starts. The education sessions included the prevalence of falls in Malaysia, fall risks factors, type of exercise benefit to prevent falls among community-dwelling older adults. The attendance at the virtual fall prevention education session will be recorded. After attending the fall prevention education session virtually, intervention group participants will continue with the supervising group-based exercise. The virtual exercise is a multicomponent exercise that contains a warm-up session with aerobics and music, strengthening exercises for upper and lower limbs, static and dynamic balance training, stepping mat exercises, backwards chaining floor exercise training and a cool-down session with flexibility exercise with 3 different levels of intensity measure by Borg Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale. Level 1 (first two months) indicates the low-intensity light (9-12) Borg RPE, level 2 the moderate intensity (11-15) Borg RPE and level 3 will be high intensity (14-17) Borg RPE. The virtual exercise will be conducted with a maximum of 7 persons a session, supervised by a physiotherapist. The adherence rate will be recorded based on the attendance checklist.