Saija Karinkanta

Physical therapy approaches to reduce fall and fracture risk among older adults

Falls and fall-related injuries, such as fractures, are a growing problem among older adults, often causing longstanding pain, functional impairments, reduced quality of life and excess health-care costs and mortality. These problems have led to a variety of single component or multicomponent intervention strategies to prevent falls and subsequent injuries. The most effective physical therapy approach for the prevention of falls and fractures in community-dwelling older adults is regular multicomponent exercise; a combination of balance and strength training has shown the most success. Home-hazard assessment and modification, as well as assistive devices, such as canes and walkers, might be useful for older people at a high risk of falls. Hip protectors are effective in nursing home residents and potentially among other high-risk individuals. In addition, use of anti-slip shoe devices in icy conditions seems beneficial for older people walking outdoors. To be effective, multifactorial preventive programs should include an exercise component accompanied by individually tailored measures focused on high-risk populations. In this Review, we focus on evidence-based physical therapy approaches, including exercise, vibration training and improvements of safety at home and during periods of mobility. Additionally, the benefits of multifaceted interventions, which include risk factor assessment, dietary supplements, elements of physical therapy and exercise, are addressed.

Exercise and vitamin D in fall prevention among older women: a randomized clinical trial

IMPORTANCE While vitamin D supplementation and exercise are recommended for prevention of falls for older people, results regarding these 2 factors are contradictory. OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of targeted exercise training and vitamin D supplementation in reducing falls and injurious falls among older women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A 2-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled vitamin D and open exercise trial conducted between April 2010 and March 2013 in Tampere, Finland. Participants were 409 home-dwelling women 70 to 80 years old. The main inclusion criteria were at least 1 fall during the previous year, no use of vitamin D supplements, and no contraindication to exercise. INTERVENTIONS Four study groups, including placebo without exercise, vitamin D (800 IU/d) without exercise, placebo and exercise, and vitamin D (800 IU/d) and exercise. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was monthly reported falls. Injurious falls and the number of fallers and injured fallers were reported as secondary outcomes. In addition, bone density, physical functioning (muscle strength, balance, and mobility), and vitamin D metabolism were assessed. RESULTS Intent-to-treat analyses showed that neither vitamin D nor exercise reduced falls. Fall rates per 100 person-years were 118.2, 132.1, 120.7, and 113.1 in the placebo without exercise, vitamin D without exercise, placebo and exercise, and vitamin D and exercise study groups, respectively; however, injurious fall rates were 13.2, 12.9, 6.5, and 5.0, respectively. Hazard ratios for injured fallers were significantly lower among exercisers with vitamin D (0.38; 95% CI, 0.17-0.83) and without vitamin D (0.47; 95% CI, 0.23-0.99). Vitamin D maintained femoral neck bone mineral density and increased tibial trabecular density slightly. However, only exercise improved muscle strength and balance. Vitamin D did not enhance exercise effects on physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The rate of injurious falls and injured fallers more than halved with strength and balance training in home-dwelling older women, while neither exercise nor vitamin D affected the rate of falls. Exercise improved physical functioning. Future research is needed to determine the role of vitamin D in the enhancement of strength, balance, and mobility. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00986466.

Study protocol for prevention of falls: A randomized controlled trial of effects of vitamin D and exercise on falls prevention

BackgroundFalls are the leading cause of unintentional injury and injury-related death among older people. In addition to physical activity, vitamin D also may affect balance and neuromuscular function. Low serum 25-hydroksivitamin D level increases the risk of bone loss, falls and fractures. Thus, an appropriate exercise program and sufficient vitamin D intake may significantly improve not only functional balance, but also balance confidence. Balance represents a complex motor skill determined by reaction time, muscle strength, and speed and coordination of movement.Methods/DesignA 2-year randomized double-blind placebo-controlled vitamin D and open exercise trial of 409 home-dwelling women 70 to 80 years of age comprising four study arms: 1) exercise + vitamin D (800 IU/d), 2) exercise + placebo, 3) no exercise + vitamin D (800 IU/d), 4) no exercise + placebo. In addition to monthly fall diaries, general health status, life style, bone health, physical functioning, and vitamin D metabolism will be assessed. The primary outcomes are the rate of falls and fall-related injuries. Secondary outcomes include changes in neuromuscular functioning (e.g. body balance, muscle strength), ADL- and mobility functions, bone density and structure, cardiovascular risk factors, quality of life and fear of falling.DiscussionThe successful completion of this trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of exercise and vitamin D for falls reduction.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrial.gov -register (NCT00986466).

Concern about Falling in Older Women with a History of Falls: Associations with Health, Functional Ability, Physical Activity and Quality of Life

Background: Fear of falling has been linked to activity restriction, functional decline, decreased quality of life and increased risk of falling. Factors that distinguish persons with a high concern about falling from those with low concern have not been systematically studied. Objective: This study aimed to expose potential health-related, functional and psychosocial factors that correlate with fear of falling among independently living older women who had fallen in the past year. Methods: Baseline data of 409 women aged 70-80 years recruited to a randomised falls prevention trial (DEX) (NCT00986466) were used. Participants were classified according to their level of concern about falling using the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to explore associations between health-related variables, functional performance tests, amount of physical activity, quality of life and FES-I scores. Results: 68% of the participants reported a moderate to high concern (FES-I ≥20) about falls. Multinomial logistic regression showed that highly concerned women were significantly more likely to have poorer health and quality of life and lower functional ability. Reported difficulties in instrumental activities of daily living, balance, outdoor mobility and poorer quality of life contributed independently to a greater concern about falling. Conclusions: Concern about falling was highly prevalent in our sample of community-living older women. In particular, poor perceived general health and mobility constraints contributed independently to the difference between high and low concern of falling. Knowledge of these associations may help in developing interventions to reduce fear of falling and activity avoidance in old age.

Effects of a Multimodal Exercise Program on Physical Function, Falls, and Injuries in Older Women: A 2-Year Community-Based, Randomized Controlled Trial

To investigate the effects of multimodal supervised exercise on physical functioning, falls, and related injuries in older women.

A 2-Year Follow-Up After a 2-Year RCT with Vitamin D and Exercise: Effects on Falls, Injurious Falls and Physical Functioning Among Older Women

Abstract Background Both exercise and vitamin D are recommended means to prevent falls among older adults, but their combined effects on fall-induced injuries are scarcely studied. Methods A 2-year follow-up of a previous 2-year randomized controlled trial with vitamin D and exercise (Ex) of 409 older home-dwelling women using a factorial 2 × 2 design (D−Ex−, D+Ex−, D−Ex+, D+Ex+). Besides monthly fall diaries, femoral neck bone mineral density (fn-BMD), and physical functioning were assessed at 1 and 2 years after the intervention. Results After the intervention, S-25OHD concentrations declined to baseline levels in both supplement groups. The groups did not differ for change in fn-BMD or physical functioning, except for leg extensor muscle strength, which remained about 10% greater in the exercise groups compared with the reference group (D−Ex−). There were no between-group differences in the rate of all falls, but medically attended injurious falls reduced in D+Ex− and D−Ex+ groups compared with D−Ex−. However, all former treatment groups had less medically attended injured fallers, HRs (95% CI) being 0.62 (0.39–1.00) for D+Ex−, 0.46 (0.28–0.76) for D−Ex+, and 0.55 (0.34–0.88) for D+Ex+, compared with D−Ex−. Conclusions Exercise-induced benefits in physical functioning partly remained 2 years after cessation of supervised training. Although there was no difference in the rate of all falls, former exercise groups continued to have lower rate of medically attended injured fallers compared with referents even 2 years after the intervention. Vitamin D without exercise was associated with less injurious falls with no difference in physical functioning.

Effects of Vitamin D and Exercise on the Wellbeing of Older Community-Dwelling Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Evidence for the effects of exercise and vitamin D supplementation on quality of life (QoL), fear of falling (FoF) and mental wellbeing in older adults is conflicting. Objective: To study the effects of vitamin D supplementation and multimodal group exercise on psychosocial functions of wellbeing, including QoL, mental wellbeing and FoF. Method: This is a 2-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled vitamin D and open exercise intervention trial with 409 older Finnish women (70-80 years of age) randomized to 4 treatment arms: (1) placebo without exercise, (2) vitamin D (800 IU/day) without exercise, (3) placebo and exercise, and (4) vitamin D (800 IU/day) with exercise. Exercisers participated in group exercise twice per week for 12 months and once per week for the subsequent 12 months, plus home exercises. Results: When comparing with the placebo without exercise group, there were no statistically significant differences between groups receiving either vitamin D, exercise or both treatments for changes in QoL or mental wellbeing (although a slight decline was seen in mental wellbeing in those receiving vitamin D only, p = 0.044). The initial slight reduction in FoF was significant in all intervention groups compared with controls (p < 0.05), but this was only temporary. Conclusion: Neither vitamin D nor exercise contributes to better QoL, FoF or mental wellbeing in community-dwelling healthy older women with sufficient vitamin D levels.

Improved femoral neck BMD in older Finnish women between 2002 and 2010.

PURPOSE The number of hip fractures among Finns over 50-years of age rose constantly between 1970 and 1997, but since then, there has been a nationwide decline in incidence of hip fractures. One possible explanation, although not the only one, for the declining fracture rates, could be improved bone mineral density (BMD). The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in femoral neck BMD between older Finnish women born about a decade apart. METHODS We compared the baseline data of two population-based samples of home-dwelling 70-80-year-old women who were initially recruited in exercise intervention studies (N=216 in Cohort1, and N=389 in Cohort 2). Femoral neck BMD was measured with DXA. Between-cohort differences were evaluated with analysis of covariance using age, height, weight, and use of hormone therapy as covariates. RESULTS The later-born Cohort 2 was somewhat older and taller than Cohort 1. Adjusted mean difference (95% CI) in femoral neck BMD between the cohorts was 0.043g/cm(2) (0.023-0.064) corresponding the mean difference of 0.36 (0.19-0.53) in T-score in favor of Cohort 2. CONCLUSIONS Despite several factors that basically could have indicated lower mean BMD in Cohort 2, the finding was the opposite. This suggests that the mean femoral neck BMD has increased substantially among older Finnish women within a decade, but primary reason for this improvement remains unclear, but improved social and economic resources may have at least partly accounted for this favorable phenomenon.

Sarcopenia prevalence: reply to comment by Perez-Zepeda et al

Dear Editor, As we discussed in our paper [1], our study population consisted of 70to 80-year-old home-dwelling women who voluntarily participated in the DEX randomized controlled trial [2], and it is likely that the prevalence of sarcopenia in the unselected Finnish population of elderly women would have been higher than that reported by us. We estimated muscle mass with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, which is the preferred method for research and clinical use [3]. In the study by ArangoLopera and colleagues, muscle mass was determined by calf circumference [4]. Diagnostic criteria (including those used in the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People algorithm) need to be standardized and consistently applied before they can be deemed worthy of comparison. Unless this is done, diagnosis and prevalence rates of sarcopenia are difficult to compare and do not hold credibility. We also explored the rationale behind measuring muscle mass to predict the onset of disability in older adults. The result was that muscle mass and derived indices of sarcopenia were not related to measures of physical function. It seemed that an appropriate and standardized functional ability test battery might be better suited to detect changes in physical function and, consequently, reveal the onset of disability.

Exercise Training in Treatment and Rehabilitation of Hip Osteoarthritis: A 12-Week Pilot Trial

Introduction. Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip is one of the major causes of pain and disability in the older population. Although exercise is an effective treatment for knee OA, there is lack of evidence regarding hip OA. The aim of this trial was to test the safety and feasibility of a specifically designed exercise program in relieving hip pain and improving function in hip OA participants and to evaluate various methods to measure changes in their physical functioning. Materials and Methods. 13 women aged ≥ 65 years with hip OA were recruited in this 12-week pilot study. Results. Pain declined significantly over 30% from baseline, and joint function and health-related quality of life improved slightly. Objective assessment of physical functioning showed statistically significant improvement in the maximal isometric leg extensor strength by 20% and in the hip extension range of motion by 30%. Conclusions. The exercise program was found to be safe and feasible. The present evidence indicates that the exercise program is effective in the short term. However, adequate powered RCTs are needed to determine effects of long-term exercise therapy on pain and progression of hip OA.