Falls and fall-related injuries have been the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in older people for the past three decades. E-health StandingTall is a balance exercise that could reduce the risk of falling among older adults. This study aims to analyze whether the StandingTall exercise program can help reduce falls in older people.
This assessor-blinded, randomized control trial included a total of 503 older adults aged 70 or more who were independent in daily living activities and were free of cognitive impairment and progressive neurological disease. Of these patients, 254 were assigned to StandingTall and the remaining 249 to a placebo group. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of falls at 12 months.
The results suggested that the fall rates were not statistically significant in the two groups at a follow-up of 12 months – 0.60 falls per year in the StandingTall group vs. 0.76 falls per year in the control group. The proportion of people who fell in the group was also not statistically different – 34.6% in the StandingTall group vs. 40.2% in the control group.
The research concluded that the StandingTall exercise program did not have a significant rate on fall rate in older adults.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n740
