Multimodal Exercise Programs for Fall Prevention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary

The aim of present study is to analyze and compare the effect of two exercise programs - psychomotor exercise program vs exercise combined program (psychomotor + whole body vibration) - on risk factors for falls of community-dwelling older adults who are fallers or are "at high risk of falling".

This experimental study is a randomized controlled trial. The program will run for 24 weeks (3 sessions / week of 75 minutes), followed by 12 weeks of follow-up without intervention. Participants of the groups will be assessed 1) at baseline, 2) at 12 weeks, 3) at 24 weeks, and 4) after the follow-up. Participants will be randomly allocated to three groups: experimental group 1 (psychomotor program); experimental group 2 (combined program) and control group.

Conditions

• Fallers
• High Risk of Falling

Interventions

OTHER

Psychomotor exercise program

Each session includes: beginning ritual (5 min), warm-up (15 min), main section comprising the multimodal exercises (40 min), cool-down (10 min), and finishing ritual (5 min). At the initial stage, the activation of different muscle groups will be performed, providing an elevation of the neurophysiological parameters. The main section (multimodal exercises) will be focused on the specific objectives through sensorimotor and neurocognitive activities. This section includes periods ranging 10-15 min of exercises mainly focused on motor stimulation- physical performance (cardiovascular, strength, balance, flexibility, agility and movement accuracy)- alternating with exercises mainly focused on cognitive stimulation- executive functions (planning ability, information processing speed, attention and dual-task performance). At the cool-down the participants will normalize their physiological parameters. Finally, at the finishing ritual the participants share their sensations experienced.

OTHER

Combined exercise program

The EG2 intervention combines the psychomotor exercise program with a WBV program. The program integrates 3 sessions / week of 75 minutes (including the 6 minutes of WBV) on alternated days. The WBV will integrate 3 sessions / week of 6 minutes each, with programed increased exercise time, series, and frequencies throughout the intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• São João de Deus School of Nursing

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Horizon 2020 - Portugal 2020 (ALT20-03-0145-FEDER-000007 - Project: ESACA)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Évora

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-01-01

Primary Completion

2018-10-30

Completion

2019-02-28

Countries

• Portugal

Study Locations