Article Text

Download PDFPDF
A home-based, nurse-delivered exercise programme reduced falls and serious injuries in people ≥ 80 years of age

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.


 
 QUESTION: In people ≥ 75 years of age, is a home-based exercise programme that includes strength and balance retraining delivered by a nurse effective for reducing falls and related injuries?

Design

Randomised {allocation concealed*}, blinded (outcome assessors),* controlled trial with 1 year of follow up.

Setting

A home health service in a geriatric assessment and rehabilitation hospital in New Zealand.

Participants

240 people who were ≥ 75 years of age (mean age 81 y, 68% women) and were living in their own homes. Exclusion criteria were inability to walk around their own residence, current receipt of physiotherapy, or inability to understand the study. 88% of participants completed 1 year of follow up.

Intervention

121 participants were allocated to a home-based exercise programme run by a district nurse. The programme was implemented as part of the nurse's usual work and included muscle strengthening and balance-retraining exercises of increasing difficulty as well as a walking programme. Individually tailored exercise …

View Full Text