Fall, Fall Injury, Self Efficacy
Conditions
Brief summary
The overall aim with this project is to collaborate with four organisations for retired persons located in a small region of middle Sweden. The project aims to test and evaluate a newly developed group-based fall prevention exercise program regarding the effects and experiences of both leading and participating in the intervention. The design of the study is a randomised controlled trial including a total of 100 participants (60+), 50 participants in the intervention and 50 participants in the control group.
Detailed description
Research questions of interest in the project are: 1. Can an eight week (eight sessions) high intensity group based fall prevention program increase strength, balance, activity level, quality of life, self-efficacy as well as reduce sedentary behavior, fear of falling and fall frequency in older adults? 2. Can older adults learn fall techniques by participating in an eight-week (eight-session) high intensity group based fall prevention program? 3. What experiences are there from the trained leaders and the participants in the intervention? 4. How can the program be implemented in the organisations for retired persons, facilitators and barriers? A total of at least 10 volunteers will be recruited from the organisations for retired persons and trained to be instructors of the FallFitness program. These FallFitness instructors will lead the intervention groups in the planned randomised controlled trial. For the 50 participants randomized to the intervention group a eight program including six different central components, strength, balance, self-efficacy, motor skills, and falling technique will be introduced. Estimation of about ten participants in each group with a total of five groups are planned. Materials needed are mainly soft judo carpets. The exercise takes place in groups and most of the exercises are done in pairs, which has been a successful concept in previously research on a similar programme, Judo4Balance. Outcome measures of interest: Strength, balance, quality of life, activity level, fear of falling, confidence in one's own ability to perform various activities without falling, fall frequency and falling techniques. Further a train the trainer approach will be evaluated for implementation and a long term perspective of fallprevention.
Interventions
OTHERFallFitness intervention group
Eight week group-based fallprevention intervention. A total of eight session (1-hour once a week).
Sponsors
Sormland County Council, Sweden
Dalarna University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Study will be singled blinded (assessors)
Intervention model description
Randomised Controlled Trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 60 years of age * Fluent in Swedish language in both speech and writing
Exclusion criteria
* Physically weak, cannot sit upright without support and/or holding up the neck in a lying position and or rolls backwards * Coronary artery disease and unstable angina * Recently cataract treatment
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Physical function by Short Physical Performance Battery | Baseline and at two months follow up | Balance, strength and walking |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fear of Falling | Baseline and at two months follow up | Questionnaire |
| EuroQoL-5 Dimension Questionnaire (EQ-5D) | Baseline and at two months follow up | Quality of life questionnaire |
| Self-efficacy (balance confidence) | Baseline and at two months follow up | Falls self-efficacy |
| Falling techniques | Baseline and at two months follow up | Falling backwards and sideways |
| Handgrip strength | Baseline and at two months follow up | Handgrip strength measured by hand dynamometer |
| Fallfrequency | A total of 12 months falldiary from baseline | Falldiary every month |
Countries
Sweden
Contacts
Primary ContactMarina Arkkukangas, PhD
Backup ContactMichail Tonkonogi, Professor
Outcome results
None listed