The Gerontologist, Vol 32, Issue 4 450-456, Copyright © 1992 by The Gerontological Society of America

ARTICLES

Attempts to prevent falls and injury: a prospective community study

S Reinsch, P MacRae, PA Lachenbruch and JS Tobis
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange 92613-1491.

At 16 senior centers, we studied the effectiveness of exercise and cognitive-behavioral programs, compared with a discussion control program, in reducing falls and injuries among 230 older adults. After 1 year of the programs, we observed no significant difference in time to first fall. Even though a relatively high percentage (38.6%) suffered at least one fall, only 7.8% of these community-residing elderly required medical attention. Secondary outcome measures such as strength, balance, fear of falling, and perceived health did not significantly change.

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