Search Results

This paper describes why older adults begin, continue, and discontinue group- and home-based falls prevention exercise and benefits and barriers to participation. Telephone surveys were used to collect data for 394 respondents. Most respondents reported not participating in group- (66%) or home-based (78%) falls prevention exercise recently. Reasons for starting group-based falls prevention exercise include health benefits (23–39%), health professional recommendation (13–19%), and social interaction (4–16%). They discontinued because the program finished (44%) or due to poor health (20%). Commonly reported benefits were social interaction (41–67%) and health (15–31%). Disliking groups was the main barrier (2–14%). Home-based falls prevention exercise was started for rehabilitation (46–63%) or upon health professional recommendation (22–48%) and stopped due to recovery (30%). Improvement in health (18–46%) was the main benefit. These findings could assist health professionals in prescribing group-based falls prevention exercise by considering characteristics of older adults who perceive social interaction to be beneficial.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that, using objective performance measures of physical functioning, disability risk can be predicted in nondisabled older adults. This makes it possible to recruit a nondisabled but at-risk population for clinical trials of disability prevention. Successful disability prevention in this population, for example through an exercise program, would have a major public health impact. To enhance the development of exercise interventions in this group it would be valuable to have additional information not available from existing epidemiologic studies. This report examines the evidence that functional limitations preceding disability can be identified in a community-dwelling population and that it is feasible to recruit these people into studies. It introduces a series of articles examining the characteristics of this population: motivators and barriers to exercise, exercise habits and preferences, the impact of positive and negative affect, and the impact of pain and functional limitations on attitudes toward exercise.

The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence designed three progressive-intensity fall prevention program models, Increasing Stability Through Evaluation and Practice (InSTEP), to reduce risk in community-dwelling older adults. Each model included physical activity, medical risk, and home safety components and was implemented as a 12-week program for small class sizes (12–15 people) in community and senior centers. Change in fall rates and fall risk factors was assessed using a battery of performance tests, self-reports of function, and fall diaries in a 3-group within-subjects (N = 200) design measured at baseline, immediately postintervention, and at 3 and 9 months postintervention. Overall, participants experienced a reduction in falls, improved self-perception of gait and balance, and improved dynamic gait function. The medium-intensity InSTEP model signifcantly (p = .003) reduced self-reported falls in comparison with the other models. InSTEP is a feasible model for addressing fall risk reduction in community-dwelling older adults.

The purpose of the study was to identify physical activity questionnaires for older adults that might be suitable outcome measures in clinical trials of fall-injury-prevention intervention and to undertake a systematic quality assessment of their measurement properties. PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were systematically searched to identify measurements and articles reporting the methodological quality of relevant measures. Quality extraction relating to content, population, reliability, validity, responsiveness, acceptability, practicality, and feasibility was undertaken. Twelve outcome measures met the inclusion criteria. There is limited evidence about the measures’ properties. None of the measures is entirely satisfactory for use in a large-scale trial at present. There is a need to develop suitable measures. The Stanford 7-day Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire and the Community Health Activities Model Program for Seniors questionnaire might be appropriate for further development. The results have implications for the designs of large-scale trials investigating many different geriatric syndromes.

The authors investigated the associations of the amount, frequency and intensity, and type of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) with the risk of self-reported difficulty in walking (WD) and stair climbing (SCD) over 16 years in a population-based cohort age 40–64 years at the onset of the study. Their results indicated that the risk for SCD was highest among men and women with a low amount of weekly LTPA. The risk was high also among women with weekly light LTPA compared with women with weekly vigorous LTPA. The risk for WD was highest among men who engaged in fitness activity once a week compared with men who engaged in fitness activity at least three times a week. A low amount of weekly LTPA, light LTPA twice or more a week, and LTPA for keeping fit and healthy less than three times a week are associated with future risk of mobility difficulties among middle-aged and older adults.