Does Fall Arrest Strategy Training (FAST) Added to a Fall Prevention Program Improve Physical Capacity to Prevent Serious Fall-related Injury in Older Women?

Detailed Summary

Falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalization for seniors across Saskatchewan and addressing the underlying causes is a provincial health priority. Older women are more vulnerable to the most common fall-related injuries (upper body) during forward falling while walking. Exercise programs designed to improve balance and strength can reduce fall risk but it is not known if specific exercises targeted to upper body strength and agility can improve chances for safe landing when a fall is inevitable. The investigators have developed such a program, Fall Arrest Strategy Training (FAST) and successfully piloted the feasibility of the exercises to be included in a standard fall prevention program. FAST is meant to increase arm strength, reaction time, trunk control, and teach better landing techniques. The potential efficacy of such an intervention to improve landing capacity has not been studied in older women. Thirty-two women age 60 years or older will be randomly assigned to either FAST or a Standard Exercise group. Half will do standard exercises targeting balance, mobility and lower extremity strength; the other half will do the same exercises with the addition of FAST. Both groups will exercise twice per week for 12 weeks. Participants will be tested before and after for arm strength, reaction time, balance, mobility and the ability to control body descent (absorb energy) using a technique we developed in our lab. While in a safety harness, participants will simulate a forward fall onto a platform that measures energy during impact. While completely preventing falls is not possible, this study will help the investigators learn if simple exercises like FAST combined with balance training can decrease fall risk AND reduce the risk of serious injury when a fall is unavoidable. It will help address the growing personal and societal cost of fall-related injury. This study will also inform future research targeted to include a large-scale trial evaluating the impact and implementation of FAST training in older adults across the spectrum of care and development of a computer simulation model to determine which factors are most important for reducing the risk of fall-related injury.

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