Impact of Skills Acquired Through Judo Training on Risk Factors for Falling in Elderly Men and Women

Summary

Falls and injuries from falls are one of the greatest threats to public health. One of the risk factors for accidental falls is a low self-efficacy regarding the perceived capability to perform activities without the risk of falling. Judo is a sport which include "break fall" strategies where falls with correct landing strategies and rolling movements are in focus in order to avoid injuries. The investigators expect that a judo inspired training (Judo4Balance) will strengthen self-efficacy when it comes to the perceived ability to perform daily tasks without the risk of falling and thereby reduce the risk for falling. Judo based training also includes a well rounded training with focus on strength, balance, explosive power, stamina, proprioception and flexibility. These physical qualities are of importance for reducing the risk of falling. Therefore the investigators' hypothesis is that a 12 week long judo inspired training program could be a suitable tool for reducing falls.

The aim of the project is to evaluate and document whether a 12 week standardized judo inspired exercise program including both the training of above mentioned physical qualities as well as "break fall" techniques can influence the risk of falling as well as reduce the negative consequences such as injuries from an accidental fall.

For the evaluation of the 12 week intervention a validated test battery will be used which gives an indication of the risk for falling in the near future. Furthermore, a specifically designed "Falling Competence" Test has been developed by the investigators' M. Tonoknogi and K Strömqvist Bååthe to measure "break fall" technique.

If it can be proven that the intervention group reaches the expected positive results then the control group will be offered the same type of Judo4Balance training after that they have been participating as a randomized control group.

There is evidence that the risk of falling can be reduced by training, nevertheless judo based training has not to the investigator's knowledge been scientifically investigated among the elderly with the aim of reducing the risk of falls. Neither has it been studied if this type of group training is motivational for continuing physical activity after the intervention.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Swedish Govt. recommendations (in mid March 2020) to avoid group exercises for older adults (to decrease the risk of the spread of Covid-19) the 9 exercise intervention groups where put on hold/paused after 6-9 weeks into the exercise program.

We applied for and received an approval for an addition to the ethical approval (2019-03048), in order to follow up with the study subject after 6-7 months of self-quarantine in the homes with a self rating of: Fall EfficacyScale (FES), EQ3D as well as questionnaire about the subjects perceived physical and mental health. These questionnaires were sent by post.

Conditions

• Aging Problems
• Frailty
• Fall Injury
• Accidental Fall
• Fear of Falling

Interventions

OTHER

Judo4Balance - 12 week judo inspired exercise program

12 weeks x 45 minute judo inspired exercise in lead by instructor in a group setting.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Swedish Judo Federation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Sormland County Council, Sweden

  collaborator OTHER

• Dalarna University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Michail Tonkonogi, PhD · Dalarna University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

55 Years

Max Age

110 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-09-30

Primary Completion

2022-01-21

Completion

2022-01-31

Countries

• Sweden

Study Locations