|
 For men and women combined, the exercise program did not
significantly reduce fall injuries, but in men it was associated
with reduced risks of serious fall injuries, broken bones.
“We also found that men had greater improvements than women in their
gait, balance and muscle strength, in response to the physical
activity program,” said lead author Dr. Thomas Gill, a professor of
geriatric medicine at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven,
Connecticut.
Each year, nearly a third of older people living in a community
setting suffer a fall, with 20 to 30 percent of these falls
resulting in moderate to severe injuries, the researchers write in
The BMJ.
“Serious fall injuries are one of the most dreaded and devastating
conditions experienced by older persons,” Gill told Reuters Health
by email.
The researchers used data from the Lifestyle Interventions and
Independence for Elders (LIFE) study, the largest study to examine
the benefits of physical activity in older people.
The 1,635 participants were sedentary adults, ages 70 to 89, with
physical limitations. They all scored low on a test of physical
performance but were able to walk a quarter mile.
Half of the participants completed exercise programs twice a week in
centers across the U.S. They also completed at-home exercises three
to four times weekly including aerobic, strength, flexibility, and
balance training activities.
The rest of the participants were assigned to a comparison group
that completed a health education program and did upper body
stretching.
The study team checked on participants’ rates of injuries from falls
for up to 3.5 years, asking them every six months if they had fallen
and broken a bone or gone to the hospital.
Overall, 75 people in the physical activity group, or 9.2 percent,
had a serious fall injury, compared with 84 people, or 10.3 percent,
in the comparison group.
There was no significant difference between the two groups in
serious fall injuries, broken bones, or hospital visits.
After the fact, the researchers decided to look at sex differences
and found that men in the physical training group had greater
improvements on serious fall injuries, fractures and hospital
admissions than women.
[to top of second column] |
Dr. Mary Tinetti, who also studies falls in the elderly at Yale but
wasn’t involved in the new study, told Reuters Health by email that
this work alone is not enough to prove that men benefit more than
women from physical activity.
Many previous studies have shown that exercise also reduces fall
injuries in women, said Tinetti.
Gill’s team too had previously found that physical activity can help
with mobility issues in older adults of both genders. “Hence, women
and men should be advised that physical activity is beneficial,”
said Gill.
He added, “Exercises that focus on improving balance, gait and
muscle strength are most useful. Older persons often fall because
they have problems with their balance and gait.”
Tinetti noted that balance training is integral to preventing falls
but may be safer to do in a supervised environment. She warned,
“Balance training can be particularly tricky because to improve
balance one needs to ‘challenge’ balance, which means to temporarily
get off balance and then recover safely.”
“Serious fall injuries such as hip fractures and head injuries are
comparable to strokes in clinical importance for older adults,” said
Tinetti. “Therefore, it is important to identify ways to prevent
series fall injuries, particularly as the population is rapidly
aging.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/1XhEKlL The BMJ, online February 3, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
